Where His Loyalties Lie
by sithlord01
Summary: Why does Albus Dumbledore trust Severus Snape completely? What if Dumbledore tested Severus to make sure he was loyal to Lily before Harry Potter entered Hogwarts?
1. Chapter 1 - Dr Clara Cummins

_**Disclaimer**__**:**__ Harry Potter and all related characters are copyright of J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This story has no intention of making money and all credit goes to J. K. Rowling's hard work and ideals. I'm just a fan that wants to write about other Defense Against the Dark Arts Teachers who taught at Hogwarts._

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><p><strong>Chapter One - Dr. Clara Cummins<strong>

A tall thin man, wearing a peculiar purple ensemble, which almost resembled a dress, walked swiftly into Witches and Wizards Institute of Technology (WWIT) in Cambridge. WWIT is renowned as one of the most prestigious four year secondary schools in America for young witches and wizards between the ages of 14 and 18. The elderly gentleman had traveled far in a desperate attempt to replace the last instructor for the defense against the dark arts post at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, who had mysterious disappeared the previous week. The man easily stood out among the crowd of American students with his long, silvery flowing beard as he roamed through the hallways in between classes. The dress code was notably much less stringent here than Hogwarts, as many of the students were dressed simply in jeans and t-shirts. It was nearing the end of May, and the students would be finishing up classes and preparing for final examinations soon. He stopped to read the placard on an office door:

**Dr. Clara Cummins**

Professor of Strategies in Defending Dark Arts

Ph.D. in Muggle Physics

The man chuckled at the sign, unable to recall many Professors pursuing degrees in muggle classes, invoking some admiration for this witch as she went above and beyond her education, advancing not only the wizarding world, but the muggle world as well. He lightly knocked on the door and heard a voice from beyond respond, "Come in."

The sides of the office walls were completely covered with thousands of books among each of them. Across from her large wooden desk were two comfortable looking sofa chairs. Behind the desk was a diploma from MIT for a Doctorate in Philosophy in Physics and below the diploma was a black plaque with gold handwriting, acknowledging her brave efforts in defeating the dark wizards from Salem known as Tituba's Troops of Transcendence. The man was only slightly aware of the ongoing affairs among the dark wizards from the United States, but he was more concerned with the state of affairs back in Great Britain.

The women at her desk had kept her head down and appeared to be busy grading papers. She looked quite young, mid 20's perhaps. She had long straight hair that appeared to be brown with natural blonde highlights. However, the light that was in her room also showed colors of red as well. She was wearing muggle attire including black heals, black dress pants, and a light blue blouse. She adjusted her glasses and looked up into the piercing blue eyes of an old man with half-moon spectacles as he approached her desk. Never meeting this man in her life she recognized him immediately in some of her readings. "Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, you're quite the legend even here in the United States, please take a seat."

Albus smiled modestly and gracefully sat on one of the sofa chairs. "And how may I be of service to you today Professor? It must be quite important if you've traveled all the way here to see an American such as myself. Did you apparate here?"

"Why yes I did," Albus responded.

"Quite a remarkable feat if you ask me, not many witches or wizards can accomplish apparition across the ocean. Anyways please go on." Clara said while she carefully gazed at his appearance to detect if he left any part of himself behind during his journey.

"Quite direct, aren't you my dear?" Dumbledore chuckled. "It seems that come next autumn my school will be lacking a defense against the dark arts teacher. This particular post seems to have a frequent turnover in faculty members, and I was hoping you would be willing to take up the position."

"May I ask why there is such a _frequent_ turnover in your staff for this particular post?" Clara said with an apprehensive look as her hazel eyes, which appeared green near the pupils but faded to a dark blue, narrowed.

"I have pondered many theories as to why this post seems to be, how shall I say this, troublesome in the past few years; however I have no definitive evidence to validate any of my suspicions." Albus simply replied with a grave look on his face.

Clara was unsatisfied by this response. "Would you mind entertaining me with at least one of your theories, Albus?"

"I suspect the post is cursed. Many years ago a young wizard, Tom Riddle, interviewed for a position at my school for the defense against the dark arts job. I denied him that job and since then it appears that either by mere coincidence or a series of rather unfortunate events has led to the faculty members holding this position to last no longer than 1 year. Naturally, this has become an endless endeavor to try and find qualified teachers and I would understand if you are unwilling to take on the job." Albus leaned forward and gazed down with pleading eyes to Clara.

"Interesting theory Albus, and I'll assume you don't exactly know what type of curse this is, otherwise you would have done the correct counter curse to stop it by now." Clara paused for a moment and appeared to be deeply thinking about something before she responded "I…I suppose I could take a sabbatical from WWIT to help you out, Albus; however, I doubt I will be able to assist for more than one year."

"Thank you for helping out an old man Clara, on behalf of our staff and students. I feel you will make great contributions at Hogwarts. Now before I leave you to your work I was wondering if you had any Sherbet Lemon, they are quite delicious and would make my journey back home much more enjoyable." Albus said randomly as he began to stand up from the chair and shake Clara's hand.

"Sherbet Lemon?" Clara tilted her head to the side and questioned for a moment. But then, as if she could read Albus's mind, replied "Oh, you mean lemon drops. Sorry no, but I do have some muggle atomic fireball candies if you would like to try one." Clara used her wand to conjure a bowl that had little red candies individually wrapped and handed the bowl over to Albus.

Albus smiled after picking up a piece of candy and glanced up back at Clara saying "Thank you my dear."

"You're welcome Albus" Clara trailed off before she sat back in her chair and watched the old man leave her office. She couldn't help but have a strange suspicion that Dumbledore's plans extended beyond teaching. Then she sighed and resumed her grading.


	2. Chapter 2 - Arriving at Hogwarts

_**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and all related characters are copyright of J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This story has no intention of making money and all credit goes to J. K. Rowling's hard work and ideals. I'm just a fan that wants to write about other Defense Against the Dark Arts Teachers who taught at Hogwarts._

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><p><strong>Chapter 2 - Arriving at Hogwarts<strong>

Clara approached the gates of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry wearing black heeled boots, blue jeans, and a plain black blouse. Clara bewitched her suitcases to levitate and follow beside her. She watched as the gates appeared to open on their own accord and gazed at the beautiful castle that lay before her eyes. Hogwarts had a longer and more majestic history than any school back in the United States. It was mid-August, 1986, and a beautiful summers day. A light breeze gently blew across the women's face and her brown hair flowed gracefully behind her as she walked up towards the castle.

When she got inside she walked over to the Great Hall and placed her luggage down at her sides. She was compelled to walk inside the large room. Her eyes and mind were absorbing the stunning architecture as she looked at the four long tables that occupied the room. She walked all the way to front where another smaller table faced the other four tables. She took her hand and dragged it across the table and was amazed at how the woodwork felt across her fingertips. Lost in her own thoughts, Albus Dumbledore came into the Great Hall making his presence known to the witch. She glanced at him with a smile as he approached her.

"Welcome to Hogwarts Clara," Albus said. He was wearing light gray robes today as he came to shake Clara's hand. "I see that you are enjoying the lovely craftsmanship of this school. Please let me show you to your office and the quarters where you will be staying."

"This place is absolutely amazing and a one of a kind if you ask me." She went to grab her suitcases and they began their way up the stairs to the second floor.

"I encourage you to exercise caution when traversing the castle. You never know what surprises may arise. I myself find something new and interesting every now and then, why just the other day I discovered a fake door that was on the seventh floor. Ah, here we are." Albus said as he stopped right in front of a door and flicked his wand to open it.

The room was rather large and empty with only a wooden desk and one chair. A fireplace was lit that gave off a warm sense of feeling about the room despite the lackluster decor. "This my dear will be your office for the school year and you may decorate it however you wish."

Behind the desk was a bookshelf completely full of books on defensive spells and dark magic. Albus approached the bookshelf while Clara followed and found that the old man began to pull one of the books. The shelf began to move on its own and a new room appeared behind it. This room appeared to look like a living room but with a lack of furniture or anything else. To the right of the room was another door. Albus pointed to the room and said "And this here will be your living quarters, once again feel free to decorate it however you wish. The door to your right includes a bedroom as well as your own personal loo." Clara simply assumed that the bedroom would be just as empty as the other rooms and decided not to venture a look into the room just yet, but she simply dropped off her suitcases in the living room area. "Now then, before you become preoccupied with redecorating, let me show you to your classroom."

They walked up another flight of stairs to the third floor. They approached a large door and as they entered Clara saw that the room had an iron chandelier hanging from the ceiling along with an enormous dragon skeleton. Clara was awed by the creature above her head as dragons are not known to roam many parts of the United States. She had personally only ever seen pictures of dragons, but the skeleton gave her an idea of the actual scale compared relative to her.

Several benches were neatly organized into several rows and columns and a larger table was set in front of the classroom. "This is quite an interesting room Albus, is there anything else I should be aware of?" Clara glanced up into his piercing blue eyes.

"Yes, staff members will generally eat dinner around 6 o'clock every evening before the start of term. Faculty meetings will be every Monday evening after dinner and the first one starts tomorrow. Thank you again Clara and we will see you later this evening." Albus walked out of the room to leave Clara to her own thoughts.

After several hours of decorating and making her place livable, Clara began to feel extremely exhausted. She realized that it may take a while for her to adjust to the new time zone, but slowly she got herself ready for dinner. After her early chat with Albus, Clara had the feeling that her normal attire would seem out of place and she decided to change into her own set of personal robes. She decided to wear a black dress under her robes, but she had a small snarl on her face as she preferred her muggle attire over any kind of dress.

Her robes were white with silver trim and the back flowed swiftly behind her as she approached the Great Hall. Several staff members appeared to already be seated. Clara was glad her intuition told her to wear robes rather than muggle clothing, as all the other faculty members were in their own personal robe attire. In her mind she had to chuckle at how wizards from England seemed to be old fashioned when it came to attire. Most Americans would never be caught walking around in robes anymore. Albus was already in the center chair and he glanced at Clara with a smile on his face and then he motioned towards an empty chair with a small nod. The seat was at the far end of the staff table to Albus's left and the chair next to her was currently empty. The seat next to the empty one had an older witch with a severe-look on her face, square spectacles, and her black hair was in a tight bun. She wore emerald green robes and glanced up at the witch approaching her seat. Suddenly the features on the women's face became soft and warm as she spoke. "And who have we here?"

"I'm Clara Cummins and you must be Minerva McGonagall the transfiguration teacher, forgive me I've read quite a bit about this school before arriving." She smiled at the women.

"Why yes," Minerva responded looking quite impressed that the young witch was quite knowledgeable about the faculty working at Hogwarts. "I'm going to venture a guess that you probably know more about me than I know about you." Minerva looked at Clara but soon her green eyes seemed full of questions.

Suddenly, a tall, thin, and sallow skinned man with a large hooked nose and greasy black shoulder length hair sat in between Clara and Minerva. The man appeared to be quite young, similar to the age of Clara. The man didn't even look at the woman when he retorted "You must be that _American_ Albus has been talking about" he said with a sneer on his face and loathing in his dark eyes as he finally glanced up at the young witch.

Clara's eyes widened at the man's comment but she couldn't help questioning herself why he already loathed her. She retorted back as politely as she could manage "Why yes, I am the _American _and I'm going to guess that you are Severus Snape the potions master. I can tell because you smell like lavender from making a sleeping draught potion. It is a pleasure to meet you too." Clara raised her arm willing to shake his own. Severus glanced at it hesitantly but after a few moments finally returned the women's handshake.

Severus was quite surprised by her astute observational skills. He could tell that the woman was a skilled at Legilimency as he could sense the women trying to penetrate his mind. Using the power of Occlumency, Severus was able to conceal his thoughts from whatever the witch was lurking around for in his mind. The food suddenly appeared on the table and the staff all began to eat. Severus quickly took another glance at the slender, short women with brownish blond hair and hazel eyes, her robes completely contrasted to his. She even looked to be the same age as him.

Clara was smiling as she began to eat her food as she realized that Severus was skilled at Occlumency, making it quite difficult for her to figure out why he loathed her just after meeting her. But she was determined to figure it out; she always managed to find the answers she was seeking for. Minerva broke the sudden silence and began asking how the wizarding world is like in America. Clara explained the difference in the American culture of witchcraft and wizardry. By the time she finished talking they were done with dinner. Clara got up first and said politely "I'm sorry for leaving right away, but I'm not quite use to this time zone yet so I'm going to retire for the evening. Have a wonderful night Minerva, Severus."

Minerva and Severus nodded at her as Clara began walking out of the Great Hall with her white robes billowing behind her as she left. Minerva raised an eye brow and turned to Severus. Minerva mentioned in a joking sort of way "She is quite an attractive women Severus. She seems to be very intelligent, polite, around the same age. I think you guys could make a great couple."

Severus glared at Minerva and said smoothly to the witch "Please Minerva, don't say such _ridiculous_ things." And Severus rose from his chair and stormed out of the Great Hall with his black robes flowing behind him. Minerva had a small smile on her face before she too left the hall.


	3. Chapter 3 - Staff Meeting

_**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and all related characters are copyright of J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This story has no intention of making money and all credit goes to J. K. Rowling's hard work and ideals. I'm just a fan that wants to write about other Defense Against the Dark Arts Teachers who taught at Hogwarts._

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><p><strong>Chapter 3 - Staff Meeting<strong>

Late that night Clara awoke to crashing noises coming from her office. She quickly grabbed her wand and glasses from her nightstand and saw that the clock read just after 3. She dashed over to her office to see a little man floating near the ceiling and throwing all of Clara's books across the room. He was dressed in bizarre clothes with an orange bow tie and a blue bell-covered hat. "Ha haaa! Crazy Clara doesn't need these anyways."

Clara tilted her head and realized that this solid creature could take flight, was capable of moving objects, and by his behavior suggested that he loved to cause chaos. Clara was able to identify him as a poltergeist and was trying to think of a way to get rid of him and prevent him from destroying the rest of her office. She spoke politely and said "Excuse me, but what do you think you are trying to accomplish? You know I'm just going to put those books back anyways. But I will thank you for helping me out, they needed to be reorganized nonetheless."

"Ooooh, cracked up Clara seems to be cranky wanky. Ha haaa! You'll have to be even nicer than that for me to even consider stopping!" Peeves retorted while he continued to throw all of Clara's décor across her office.

Clara had a wicked smile on her face and with a simple snap of her finger and a flick of her wand, Peeves seemed suddenly freightened and he quickly flew out of her office door. Clara waved her wand again and all her objects on the floor seemed to reassemble themselves and moved back to their proper place. Clara sighed and then proceeded to take off her glasses and rub the bridge of her nose. She went back to her kitchen and decided to make a nice warm cup of coffee. She grabbed one of her physics textbooks, The Quantum World, and proceeded to read for any information that could lead to new magical innovations.

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><p>"Everyone I would like to introduce you to Clara Cummins, who will be fulfilling the role as our new defense against the dark arts teacher this year." Albus began speaking at the staff meeting later that evening. "And for those of you who are not aware, Clara graduated from WWIT's school in Cambridge. After completing her magical studies, she was part of a team of witches and wizards who stopped several dark wizards in Salem. She was even awarded for her services for saving the country. After the war, she decided to pursue muggle studies in physics. Two years later she received her Bachelor's degree in science and attended graduate school at MIT. She received her Doctorate of Philosophy after four years of addition studies in physics. Last year after finishing her degree she returned to WWIT's school to teach Strategies of Defending Dark Arts. Clara has graciously agreed to take a sabbatical from WWIT to help serve our school for this coming year. So will you all please help me in giving a warm welcome to Professor Clara Cummins." The faculty all clapped their hands. Professor Pomona Sprout, the Herbology teacher, even gave Clara a welcoming pat on her back, impressed with her accomplishments.<p>

Albus continued on with other reminders about what the faculty should be doing before the start of term. Then he finally said, "And with that, I have nothing else more to discuss. Good night to you all." With that, several faculty members got up and immediately left the staffroom. Clara got up and walked towards the window of the staffroom and gazed outside, lost in her own thoughts.

During the faculty meeting she was able to read Pomona's mind and realized that Severus wanted the job for Defense Against the Dark Arts, but he was denied. Why would Albus do this? Was it because her position was cursed? It also seemed that Pomona's thoughts on the man were that he was untrustworthy. Why she had those thoughts, Clara did not know. Clara knew however it would only be a matter of time before she would find the out the answer. Just then her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of someone approaching. She turned around and was surprised to be facing Albus. "I hope you are enjoying your stay."

Clara smiled and said, "Why yes I am; however, that poltergeist seems to enjoy wreaking havoc in my office."

Albus smiled and responded, "Ah yes, you must have met Peeves. He does seem to enjoy teasing the new blood that comes to our school. If you see him again, just let him know that either I or the Bloody Baron are on our way."

Clara giggled "Well I think our recent encounter ensured that there would not be many others in the near future. I have quite a few tricks up my sleeve to get rid of a poltergeist." Clara shrugged her shoulders like it was no big deal.

Albus tilted his down so that his brilliant blue eyes were piercing into Clara's. Albus said slowly, "I see…"

Clara looked around the staffroom to see that it was only her and Albus left when she decided to continue their conversation. "Albus may I ask you a question?"

"Yes my dear, ask away." Albus replied and removed his gaze from the small witch in her white robes towards a paintng of two cats fighting over a saucer of milk.

"Albus, why is Severus the potions master here? It seems to me that he wanted my position more than I did." Clara tilted her head slightly to one side and tried to catch Albus's eyes to try to read his mind, but his skill was vastly superior to her own.

"Severus originally applied for the Defense Against the Dark Arts job in 1981, but I believe that Severus was also quite talented in his potion classes when he was a student here so many years ago. At the time I also needed a new potions master as the other, Horace Slughorn, desperately wanted to retire." Albus responded but his piercing blue eyes seemed to say more than what he was revealing.

"I…I see, thank you Albus. I'll see you tomorrow evening then." Clara said as she walked gracefully out of the staffroom. Albus watched at the young witch leave the room and his face smiled after she disappeared.


	4. Chapter 4 - Finding Fang

_**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and all related characters are copyright of J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This story has no intention of making money and all credit goes to J. K. Rowling's hard work and ideals. I'm just a fan that wants to write about other Defense Against the Dark Arts Teachers who taught at Hogwarts._

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><p><strong>Chapter 4 - Finding Fang<strong>

It was early Friday morning, three days before the start of term. It was a warm, sunny day outside. The weather compelled Clara to go out and enjoy it before the endless grading would begin after the term started. Clara put on some black shorts, tennis shoes, and a plain white t-shirt. She put her hair up into a ponytail and decided that today would be a lovely day to go for a light jog around the school grounds. As she walked out of the doors and onto the grass, she took in a deep breath to inhaul the sweet scent of summer. She stretched out her legs and arms and then began her jog near the dark forest. She ran near the edge to stay in the shade but also to avoid any fallen logs that would be in the forest. Suddenly she heard a faint howl in the woods and stopped in her tracks. She pulled out her wand and squinted into the dark forest to see where the noise was coming from.

She slowly entered the trees, allowing her ears and sense of smell to guide her instincts in case of an attack. As she moved forward, she stumbled across a large female boarhound laying on the ground with a massive neck wound. She gently placed her hand over the poor dog's heart, its lifeless body cold to the touch. She heard a small whimper from underneath the dead dog's front paw to see a tiny little puppy desperately trying to wake his mother. Clara conjured a blanket and softly wrapped the puppy to keep him safe and warm. Clara didn't want to abandon this puppy as she knew he was too small to survive on his own and decided that she would keep him for the time being. As she left the forest though a large man, about twice the size of an average human, with long shaggy black hair and beard was walking nearby.

"Hey Professor Cummins. What are yeh doin' out here?" asked the tall man.

"Oh, hey there Hagrid, actually I was out for a jog when I heard this small cry in the woods. I found this poor pup next to his dead mother and I couldn't leave him there alone so I thought I would adopt him." Clara raised her arms to show the blanket that wrapped around the tiny puppy.

"Hallo, ain't yeh a little beauty. Can I hold him?" Hagrid said as he smiled at the little puppy.

"Of course Hagrid, in fact you are the gamekeeper here, would you like to adopt him? I really don't have the means to take care of the little puppy and I'm more of a cat person anyway." Clara responded as she could sense that Hagrid seemed he would enjoy the puppy's company more than she would.

"I would like tha'. Let's see…I think…I think I'm goin' ter name him…ah…Fang. Hallo, Fang!" As Hagrid's large hands took the small little bundle from Clara's arms. "Thank you Professor, yer too kind."

Clara smiled up into his black beetle eyes and said, "You're welcome Hagrid!"

"Woul' yeh like ter have some tea at me place?" Hagrid asked as he tried to pet the small pup with his massive fingers.

"I would like that, but perhaps another time. I have to get back and do some last minute prep work on my classroom. Would it be okay if I came to have tea next Sunday?" Clara said as she tilted her head to the side to await Hagrid's response.

"Well o' course yeh can! See yeh later Professor." Hagrid smile widened as he walked his new puppy back to his cabin.

Clara had a small smile on her face before she sighed and jogged back up to the castle. She couldn't help but ponder what creature could have killed the poor mother boarhound like that.

Later that evening, Clara had reluctantly changed back into her white robes and she found herself longing for WWIT, where muggle attire was more socially acceptable. She reclined on a comfortable sofa chair near the warm and crackling fireplace in the staffroom and began to read a book called "The Tale of the Three Brothers." It was odd to see an adult reading wizarding fairy tales, but something in her dream the other night made her obligated to re-read this particular story.

Just then a dark tall figure approached Clara and said "_Shouldn't_ you be preparing lesson plans for your students. I hear that that _American_ school only teaches children after they've turned 14. You are no doubt aware that Hogwarts also teaches ages younger students as well, are you not?"

Clara looked up to see Severus with a smug look on his face, as if he to imply that she was unworthy of having the Defense Against the Dark Arts job. Clara closed her book and smiled at him. "Well Severus, as a matter of fact I've been preparing for the younger students earlier this summer and I've already completed my lesson plans for the entire school year." With a lazy flick of Clara's wand a large black binder flew over to her lap. The notes that were inside were neatly organized and tabbed for years 1 – 7.

"Here, take a look Severus," Clara stood up and was about a foot shorter than Severus. She handed the binder to him. "It seems to me that you doubt my abilities in teaching students and clearly you seem to be concerned about the students' education. Therefore I hope you will be willing to write down any suggestion or comments in how I can improve my curriculum." And with that Clara began to walk out of the staffroom. She stopped by the door to turn to look at him. Severus' face betrayed no hint of his surprise that Clara was this prepared. "Oh and Severus, I'll need that binder back Monday morning."

Severus glared at the witch as he watched her leave the room, her white robes billowing behind her. Severus smirked and sat on the sofa that Clara recently vacated and began to read through her lesson plans determined to find flaws in her teaching methods. After two hours of reading, he found absolutely nothing wrong with her plans. There wasn't a thing in there that he wouldn't have done himself, if Albus would have let him have the job. Unsatisfied with his attempt to belittle the witch he stormed out the room and down to the dungeons to retire for the evening.

The next morning Clara was having breakfast in the Great Hall, enjoying a delicious cup of coffee. She was not really a fan of tea . She was lost in thought as she dwelled on the fairy tale she read yesterday. Why would this particular story come to her mind, it's as if the second sight she seemed to suddenly possess was telling her that there was something important here.

_PLUNK_

The sound shocked Clara and she jumped from her seat. She looked at the table to find her binder was there and turned her gaze to see a disgruntled Severus staring back at her. Clara tilted her head to the side slightly confused, but then she realized that she didn't even have to read Severus's mind to know that he didn't find anything wrong with her lesson plans. "Good morning Severus" Clara said politely and straightened her head "and thank you for taking the time to look at my lesson plans. Do you have any suggestions to help me be a better teacher?" Clara had a large smile on her face as she looked into the dark tunnels of Severus's eyes. She couldn't help but feel attracted and intrigued by the mystery they seemed to contain. Yet she also felt frustrated at her inability to delve into Severus's mind and unravel those mysteries.

"Morning" Severus said slowly, his voice always had a smooth way of saying his words. Severus face remained well composed as if nothing bothered him. "Those dunderhead students will probably not pass that NEWTs the way you're teaching, such a shame." Severus face had a smirk as if he finally showed Clara that she was unworthy for this teaching job.

Clara thought for several moments in silence and then took a sip of coffee before responding "And how do you suppose I should prepare them Professor? I would hate to upset any of the faculty here for my poor performance in preparing the students for their future careers." Clara set her coffee down, rested her elbows on the table and folded her hand together before speaking. "It seems that the standards at WWIT are much higher than here at Hogwarts and I apologize for my lack of knowledge." Severus glared at her before quickly turning around and leaving the Great Hall. Not surprised, Clara grinned and resumed drinking her coffee and her thoughts drifted again towards the fairy tale she read last night.

That evening, as the faculty were gathering together to eat dinner, Clara arrived to see that Severus was already seated with several parchments lying on Clara's spot. As Clara approached the table, she saw that they were addressed to her with suggestions on material NEWTs students should know before taking their exam. Clara was slightly shocked that Severus took the time to write anything out. She sat down and picked up the parchment and began reading. Several of the items listed seemed like worthwhile ideas and the way they were written made her feel like Severus was quite knowledgeable in the Dark Arts himself.

"You know Severus; several of these ideas are actually fantastic, thank you! If I didn't know any better I would say that you seem to be an expert at the dark arts yourself." Clara said looking over at Severus who began eating. Clara noticed that both his eyebrows rose in response to her saying dark arts. She looked over at Minerva and she seemed unsurprised by the suggestion Clara just made about Severus. This gave Clara the idea that Severus may have quite a dark past that he wasn't talking about. Then Clara asked for clarification on some of Severus's notes and soon both of them were debating amongst each other about when a teacher should introduce certain dark art theories. Afterwards, Clara got up and said good evening to Severus and Minerva before leaving the hall.

As Clara was leaving, Minerva turned to Severus and with a self-satisfied look on her face she said "Severus, I'm telling you that she is perfect for you. I haven't seen you so engaged in a conversation before."

Severus turned to her and glared "Please stop making such _foolish_ suggestions Minerva." Severus got up swiftly and immediately walked out of the Great Hall.


	5. Chapter 5 - First Week of Classes

_**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and all related characters are copyright of J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This story has no intention of making money and all credit goes to J. K. Rowling's hard work and ideals. I'm just a fan that wants to write about other Defense Against the Dark Arts Teachers who taught at Hogwarts._

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><p><strong>Chapter 5 - First Week of Classes<strong>

As students began to arrive into the great hall, many of their eyes flew towards the new professor; they began to giggle and vocalized to their friends how long this professor would last. Clara couldn't help but stare at the ceiling of the Great Hall as it was enchanted to look like the nights sky. It seemed immediately after the students had settled into their seats, Minerva arrived with a scared group of young students following behind her. When the sorting ceremony was over, Albus wearing maroon robes rose said, "I have a few words before we dig in. Have fun and don't blow yourself up!" Albus sat back down and Clara smiled at his comment to the students. As soon as he was seated, the most sumptuous feast Clara had ever seen materialized before her eyes.

As Minerva finally came to her seat, Severus immediately began antagonizing her. Severus taunted "You know Minerva, I fell like Slytherin will win the house and Quidditch cup again this year. It must be tough having students constantly disappointing you. Probably that _daring_ personality they have." Severus smirked when he finished.

Minerva retorted back "We'll see about that Severus, the term hasn't even started yet." Just then a spoonful of mashed potatoes launched from the Gryffindor table and landed right on the top of an unfortunate Hufflepuff's head.

Severus grin widened before responding, "As you were saying."

Minerva sighed before she said, "Mere coincidence is all."

After the feast was over Dumbledore rose again to speak. "Now before you all drift off into your cozy beds, I have a few start of the term announcements. First off I would like you all to please give a warm welcome to our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Clara Cummins." Albus paused as everyone began clapping. Clara stood up in her beautiful white robes and bowed her head before taking her seat. "Good luck professor. Also Mr. Filch has once again asked me to remind you that the forest is forbidden to all students who do not wish to die a most painful death. Well that's all I have to say, prefects you may lead your first years to your dormitories."

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><p>Tuesday morning Clara had the third year Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors for Defense Against the Dark Arts. She waved her wand carelessly to allow the students to enter into her classroom, many of them still giggling before they found their seats. Clara was in front of her desk, leaning against it as her arms were folded waiting for her students to pay attention. She smirked when there was finally silence and she began her lecture. She waved her wand to the black board and soon a message appeared with today's assignment. She slowly stood up and began to walk around the student's desk.<p>

"Good morning, as you all may reckon, I am Professor Cummins or technically Dr. Cummins. As you can tell by my accent, I'm from the United States. Now considering I don't know who any of you are I thought I would ask for a simple assignment today. I would like you all to write two paragraphs about yourself and what you hope to learn from this class. If you have any particular questions about this subject I would also encourage you to write them down as well. Hopefully during the course of this year I will answer each and every one of your questions." She moved back to the front of her desk with her eyebrow raised waiting for the students to complain about homework on the first day but she was surprised to see that they seemed to be satisfied with their first assignment.

"Now then, if you all please pull out your wands and open your textbook to page 1. We'll start with some wand and wrist movements one should prefect to prepare against the beast we will be encountering this year. Are there any questions?" Clara said smiling at the fact that the students seemed to not entirely dislike her based on what they were thinking. No one responded out loud but one student was thinking about why she was technically called Dr. Cummins and what the American wizarding world was like.

She stared at the Hufflepuff student who was thinking the question and said "I have a Doctorate in Philosophy, which people who are awarded this title can be referred to as a Doctor. However, I specialize in research; I'm not a medical doctor or healer." Clara thought it would be unwise to mention that she researched muggle physics as most students wouldn't really understand why someone would pursue such a mundane subject. All the students looked shocked that Clara seemed to be answering a question that no one seemed to ask. The Hufflepuff student however blushed at the fact Clara seemed to read his mind.

"And the wizarding world in America is slightly different in that we tend not to wear robes but muggle attire at all times. Ever since the Salem witch trials, witches and wizards thought it would be wise to blend in as much as possible. We do not enforce a dress code among our students. Also our students are required to take both muggle and wizarding classes at the same time. The students, which are actually around your age, attend middle school and by the end of your year they will move to high school. Our high school students will spend 4 more years of studying before graduating." She sighed and decided to move on with the lesson.

The rest of the day, Clara's classes seemed to be similar to her first morning lesson and by the end of the week most students were spreading rumors that Clara had the ability to read minds. This left most of the students terrified whenever they ran into Clara.

* * *

><p>After the first week of classes was over, Clara found herself in charge of patrolling the halls on Saturday evenings, searching for any students out of bed. She found this job to be rather annoying as WWIT did not allow their students to stay at school during the evening hours. She aimlessly paced around the castle but found no signs that indicated any students were out of bed. On her way back to her office, she suddenly overheard someone saying.<p>

"_I think I could have made a great Death Eater if the Dark Lord was still alive but no matter, you got what was coming to you mudblood!_"

Clara suddenly rushed over to where she heard the sound to see an older Slytherin student with his foot on top of the chest of a young Hufflepuff. The Hufflepuff boy was laying spread eagle on the ground and the Slytherin boy had his wand drawn out pointing to the other student's face. Clara wordlessly flicked her wand and managed to retrieve the wand from the Slytherin student. The Slytherin boy was frozen where he stood and seemed terrified at his apprehension.

"Mister Blishwick, what on earth have you done to this poor boy!" Clara immediately knelt down and placed her ear right above the student's mouth to hear if he was still breathing. Relieved that he was, she got up and conjured a stretcher and levitated the boy onto it. "Mister Blishwick I want you head to my office, NOW, and wait for my return! I need to take Mister Smith here to the Hospital wing, do I make myself clear young man?"

The boy responded quietly "Yes Professor Cummins."

Clara waved her wand and the stretcher followed behind her as she rushed down to the hospital wing. She knocked on Poppy's office door and a woman in her night gown came out of her office and saw the poor boy on the stretcher.

"What on earth happened here Clara?" Poppy responded with urgency in her voice.

"I don't know, but I did retrieve the boy's wand." Clara began to speak "Prior Incantato" and at once she found out what type of spell the student used. "It's a cascading jinx Poppy, I'll let you take care of things from here. I have to return to my office to talk to the student who was behind the attack." And with that Clara rushed back out of the hospital wing and towards her office.

The boy was sitting in a sofa chair in Clara's office when she arrived. She walked inside and took some floo powder above her fireplace. She threw the contents into the fire before booming out loud. "Severus, are you there?"

"Clara, what on earth are you doing up at this ungodly hour?" Severus said in a cold tone.

"I was on patrol tonight and caught Mister Blishwick here using a cascading jinx on Mister Smith. May we please enter your office?" Clara said.

"Alright, come in" Severus replied.

Clara looked over at the student and pointed at the fireplace before saying "In, NOW!" The student did what Clara commanded and she immediately followed in pursuit.

"Mister Blishwick, may I ask what you were doing out of bed." Severus said with his face well composed as he sat behind his desk and glanced at his student.

Blishwick was quiet when Clara decided to speak "It appears to me, Severus, that his silence suggests that he started the attack on Mister Smith. I will leave the student in your hands for the recommended punishment."

"Mister Blishwick, please note that 10 points will be taken for being out of bed after hours and you will serve a week's detention with Professor Cummins. Now get out." Severus said. The boy left Severus's office. Clara walked up to his desk still standing and looking down at him.

"Is that seriously all the punishment that student gets! He could have _killed_ Mister Smith using jinxes like that." Clara looked down into Severus eyes desperately trying to peer into his mind to find answers to his lack of response. But after a moment of silence, Clara realized he didn't want to continue this conversation. "Well, it seems to me that you are biased towards students from your own house. Quite disappointing Severus. By the way, you wouldn't happen to know what a Death Eater is? I overheard Mister Blishwick mentioning it."

"I'm sure you're more than capable enough to figure it out on your own" Severus said before he looked down at his stack of papers he was grading. Clara sighed and decided not to press Severus any further on the subject. She stormed back to the fireplace, her mind full of new information.


	6. Chapter 6 - Researching Tom Riddle

_**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and all related characters are copyright of J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This story has no intention of making money and all credit goes to J. K. Rowling's hard work and ideals. I'm just a fan that wants to write about other Defense Against the Dark Arts Teachers who taught at Hogwarts._

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><p><strong>Chapter 6 - Researching Tom Riddle<strong>

Clara paced back and forth in her office, pondering why she could not find any books on the topic of Death Eaters. Clearly this must have been recent, so Clara decided to head to the library. She began to read some archived information from a newspaper, specifically The Daily Prophet. Clara was overwhelmed by the wealth of information that came before her. These Death Eaters were servants to a dark wizard in which the papers referred to him as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It was odd to Clara that none of the articles would reveal this man's name. Clearly the Ministry here must have feared the name or there was some type of taboo if no one was willing to speak of it.

Clara wanted to find out more about this wizard, so read on. In her research, she found that the dark wizard fell while attempting to kill an infant, Harry Potter. They called him the boy who lived and explained the tragedy in which the boy's parents, Lily and James Potter, were murdered. Clara couldn't believe that the boy survived a killing curse. She wasn't sure how the boy managed this feat, but was determined to learn the answer. Then Clara came across a curious article that mentioned how Severus Snape, a convicted Death Eater, was not charged of any of his crimes as Albus Dumbledore came to his defense in 1981. Clara smirked as she read the article, as some of the fog surrounding these issues began to clear. So Severus did know more about the the dark arts than he let on, and became so immersed in it that he was willing to align himself with a powerful dark wizard. But what would make him change sides near the end of his downfall, Clara wondered.

Albus was clearly a brilliant and great wizard. He must of have had a good reason to trust Severus and even give him a job as potions master. But come to think of it, he didn't give Severus the Defense Against the Dark Arts, which clearly was his area of expertise. Albus must value him if he didn't want Severus to leave Hogwarts. She went back to her office and sat on the sofa near her fireplace again, lost in her thoughts as she tried to piece parts of this puzzle together. Suddenly she heard a knock on her door. Clara responded "Come in."

Minerva came walking in in her black robes and said "Professor Dumbledore has asked me to deliver this note to you." Clara took the note out of Minerva's hand.

"Thank you Minerva, how are you doing?" Clara placed the note on the arm of the chair and stood up to face Minerva.

"I'm fine I suppose. Are you aware of some of the rumors that the students have been saying about you?" Minerva said with a severe look on her face.

"Yes, I am perfectly aware of the rumors. I mean I can read their minds you twat. I, however, was not aware that students were uncomfortable with mind readers. You see most students at WWIT clearly understood that all staff members were well accomplished at Legilimency. This was a precaution to ensure the students safety. I assure you that I will be more careful around the students here. But thank you for your concern." Clara smiled and continued to speak, "I actually heard you are an animagi. I would love to get together one of these weekends and hear about how you developed that skill."

Minerva's facial features grew soft and she smiled as she responded "Well, I'm honored Clara. There is a Hogsmeade weekend coming up in two weeks. Why don't we meet up at the Three Broomsticks pub and we'll talk then."

"Thank you Minerva," said Clara. Minerva nodded at her, turned around, and then left her office. Clara picked up the note and began reading it.

_Clara,_

_Please meet me in my office in one hour to discuss some additional assignments I would like you to complete for me. _

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_P.S. I enjoyed those atomic fireballs_

Clara thought that the last comment was rather odd, but upon arriving to a large gargoyle guarding the area, which was Albus's office, Clara made several attempts to get the circular stone staircase to move. She soon realized that atomic fireball must be the password in order to gain passage into the old man's office. Once she got up the stairs and knocked on his door, the door opened on its own accord. The circular room was large with many windows. This was the first time Clara had been inside Albus's office and she gazed at the many portraits of old witches and wizards snoozing above her, probably previous headmistresses and headmasters at Hogwarts. "You wanted to see me Albus?" Clara questioned.

"Why yes, I did. But it looks to me you have several questions for me, so let's discuss those first, shall we?" Albus said as he was sitting behind his desk and his head tilted forward to reveal his bright blue eyes behind is half-moon spectacles.

Clara smirked at Albus before she responded, "Your intuition is quite impressive, Albus, and many say that you could be one of the greatest wizards of all time." Clara's face assumed a more serious tone before she continued. "I was wondering what the name of a particular dark wizard was. According to my research he is referred to as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but surely that isn't his _real_ name." Clara sat gracefully down at a chair next to his desk to wait for Albus's response.

"Many of his followers referred to him as Lord Voldemort, but very few really knew that his original name was Tom Riddle. He is actually the reason why I summoned you here tonight." Dumbledore responded.

Clara shifted to the edge of her seat and said "Ah, wasn't this the wizard that tried to apply for the Defense Against the Dark Arts job and is also the reason why my job is potentially cursed. Am I correct? But Albus what can I do? Wasn't Riddle defeated when he attacked that young Harry Potter boy? Speaking of which, do you have any theories as to why a one year old boy survived a killing curse?" Clara tilted her head to the side trying to think what Albus wanted from her.

"My intuition tells me that Riddle will return, it's only a matter of time. As to why Harry Potter survived, I'm not entirely sure myself, I was actually hoping you would help me out. Your mind reading ability, knowledge of the dark arts, and exceptional skills at research will be of great value to me as we try to figure out the mystery that surrounds us." Albus's piercing blue eyes were completely focused on her hazel ones.

"So besides trying to determine how someone can survive a killing a curse, what else would you like me to do Albus?" Clara said, her eyes never left Albus's.

"Find out as much as you can about Tom Riddle. I've been trying to collect memories of his past that could hold the key to his ultimate defeat, but I'm afraid I need another set of eyes to find things I might have overlooked. I need someone who is not native to Britain and an expert researcher. Considering not many witches and wizards pursue muggle Ph.D.'s, you're the perfect candidate as you tend to combine both your muggle knowledge with your magical knowledge." At this Albus nodded his head, but his eyes seemed to say something else. Clara was becoming concerned that Albus's intuition knew more about Clara's past than what was already known despite Clara's Occlumency skills.

"I'm honored Albus, I will make sure to keep you informed on any new information I find. Is there anything else before I leave?" Clara stood up and looked down at the wizard in his midnight blue robes.

"No my dear, you may go." Albus replied as Clara nodded and left the office.


	7. Chapter 7 - Non-corporal Professor Binns

_**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and all related characters are copyright of J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This story has no intention of making money and all credit goes to J. K. Rowling's hard work and ideals. I'm just a fan that wants to write about other Defense Against the Dark Arts Teachers who taught at Hogwarts._

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><p><strong>Chapter 7 - Non-corporal Professor Binns<strong>

It was a rainy Saturday morning. Clara just finished her cup of coffee in her own personal kitchen before she decided to put on a pair of blue jeans, tennis shoes, a plain black long sleeve shirt, and a tan rain coat. She put her hair in a ponytail today and began her way to Hogsmeade. She was just about to approach the Great Hall when she saw that Peeves was dropping water balloons on some unsuspecting students. Peeves looked up to see Clara approaching when he suddenly vanished. The students even seemed bewildered by Peeves odd behavior after suddenly leaving when he saw Clara approaching him. Most people only thought the Bloody Baron or Dumbledore had control of the poltergeist. Clara smirked and simply said "Peeves must have thought I was the Bloody Baron, but I can't image why, I don't think I resemble him."

Many of the students nearby began to giggle at Clara's attempt at humor. Clara smiled at them and then continued her way to Hogsmeade. When she arrived at the Three Broomsticks pub she was pleasantly surprised at how crowded the place was. The pub had a warm and cozy atmosphere about it. She saw that Minerva was already seated along with Professor Pomona Sprout and Filius Flitwick. Clara waved and went over to their table to take a seat.

Pomona smiled at her as Clara sat down and said "Interesting attire today Clara, I usually only see you in your white robes." Pomona proceeded to take a sip of a butterscotch color looking liquid she must have ordered.

"Ah yes Pomona, actually my colleagues and I back at WWIT only really wear muggle looking attire. You see, ever since the whole witches hunt fiasco in Salem, it appeared to really affect the wizarding communities' opinion on muggles. We all agreed that we should keep up with whatever fashions are current in the muggle world in order to not draw any more attention." Clara said in a matter of fact sort of tone.

"Fascinating history there Clara, I bet Professor Binns would like to hear more about the Salem witch hunt history. Speaking of which, my charms students told me yesterday that he seemed to look non-corporal in his Friday classes." Responded Filius as he was drinking his cup of hot tea.

"As a matter of fact my Gryffindor students were voicing some of the same concerns about the fact the Cuthbert looked quite different, do you think the poor man died in his sleep the other night and his ghost never even noticed?" Minerva said with a sorrowful look on her face.

"Well I saw him sleeping in the staffroom Thursday evening and that was the last time I saw a corporal Cuthbert. You don't suppose he could still be there?" Clara questioned for a moment.

"Oh dear! If he did pass on, do you think we should tell him?" Pomona responded sounding very disturbed.

"Well I think first of all we should find him, that smell has got to be bad now if he has been dead since possibly Thursday. Then I think we should leave it up to Albus, he is in charge of hiring staff after all." Minerva said urgently.

"I think Severus is still in the castle, he has a couple of students serving detention for him. Maybe one of us should send him a message to go search for the body." Filius whispered to avoid any attention from nearby students.

"Great thinking Filius, I'll send my patronus since I saw Cuthbert last. Severus can start searching for him in the staffroom." Clara replied and with an elegant wave of her wand she wordlessly conjured a sliver lynx. "Tell Severus to check in the staffroom to see if Professor Binns is still there and breathing." The lynx nodded and dashed out of the pub.

Just then Madam Rosmerta appeared asking for Clara's beverage order.

"Oh, just a water please," Clara said politely before returning to their conversation about Professor Binns. After several minutes of recollecting memories of Professor Binns a sliver doe appeared.

"Professor Binns is still in the staffroom and he is not breathing. I have notified Albus," replied the sliver doe in Severus's smooth voice. Just then the doe vanished. Clara thought it was odd that Severus's patronus was a doe. She surely couldn't tell by his personality that his corporeal patronus would suggest a doe.

"Well there never is a dull moment here at Hogwarts." Clara said with her eye brows raised. Everyone at the table laughed at Clara's comment and they continued sharing memories about strange occurrences they encountered at Hogwarts. Everyone seemed to forget about Professor Binns.

* * *

><p>Later that evening as they were starting to eat dinner, Clara saw Severus arrive and take his seat by Clara.<p>

"How is Professor Binns, does he know that he died?" Clara giggled and looked into Severus black eyes.

"I believe his ghost does not care about the fact that he died and has agreed to continue teaching." Severus said simply his gaze locked on Clara's.

"We're sorry Severus that none of us could assist you, we were all at Hogsmeade when the discussion about Cuthbert being possibly non-corporal began." Minerva replied.

"Its fine Minerva," Severus retorted as he began to eat his meal.

After several minutes Clara decided to voice her curiosity. "Please tell me the smell wasn't too bad in the staffroom Severus."

"Well I think we managed to get rid of most of the smell, but I'm afraid the staffroom may never smell the same ever again." Severus said vaguely but you could see that his nose crinkled as if reliving the smell all over again.

"I see. I might know a spell or two that I can try after dinner here to see if I can get rid of the rest of the smell." Clara replied and smiled at Severus while he glared back at her. Clara suspected that Severus didn't like feeling that he knew less spells than her, but in actuality her spell was a bottle of the muggle product known as Febreeze.

The next few evenings Clara spent consumed about reading anything on the subject of Tom Riddle and his rise to power. She kept looking through old articles from The Daily Prophet and she herself couldn't help but be curious about his magical abilities. Clara didn't get much sleep as she probably was up until 1 am trying to find out what Tom Riddle was capable of. It motivated her to want to practice some of her own new spells that she had been thinking about in recent months.

It was mid-October when Hagrid approached Clara in the Great Hall during breakfast. Clara smiled up at Hagrid and said, "Oh hey Hagrid, how has…ah…Fang been?"

"Fang, grea' pup he is, a little bit of a coward though. Say I saw yeh the other nigh' in the woods. Wha' were yeh doin' in there anyways?" Hagrid asked curiously.

"Oh, I was trying to find out what killed Fang's mother actually" Clara lied hoping that it wouldn't raise any suspicion on the fact that she was working on new spells. But it grabbed Severus's attention immediately.

"Well o' course yeh are. Great person yeh are Clara! Yeh'll let me know if yeh fin' out who killed Fang's mum, right?" Hagrid replied with a warm smile that you could barely see behind his big black bread.

"Of course Hagrid," Clara responded back. Clara had no intention of looking into the matter further. Hagrid went over to his spot of the staff table to start eating his breakfast.

"What happened, if I may ask" Severus said curiously to the witch.

"Oh, nothing really, I was jogging and found a mother boarhound with some wicked neck wounds. I was just wondering what else could be in the forest is all. I thought I could find something useful to use in some of my lessons." Clara lied and her face appeared impassive as she spoke.

"Alone in the woods at night Clara, that seems quite _foolish_ if you ask me," sneered Severus.

"Please, I'm quite qualified to handle the dark forest on my own. Why the concern Severus? Worried something might harm me?" Clara replied as she tilted her head to the side to try to understand what his black eyes were saying.

Severus's eyes seemed blank and cold when he spoke. "I would just hate for us to lose _another_ Defense teacher."

Clara rolled her eyes and smirked at him, "Whatever you say Severus."


	8. Chapter 8 - Non-verbal Duel

_**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and all related characters are copyright of J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This story has no intention of making money and all credit goes to J. K. Rowling's hard work and ideals. I'm just a fan that wants to write about other Defense Against the Dark Arts Teachers who taught at Hogwarts._

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><p><strong>Chapter 8 - Non-verbal Duel<strong>

It was Friday evening, October 31st and the leaves were just starting to fall. It was the Halloween feast in which dazzling jack-o-lanterns were floating above the students in the Great Hall. Clara just walked into the Great Hall with her white robes floating behind her gracefully as she took her spot at the staff table. Severus was already seated, his face indifferent as he watched her sit down next to her. Severus turned his head over to Minerva and began teasing her again.

"Well, well, it seems to me that my house is already ahead in points for the House cup while your Gryffindor students continue their streak of _misbehavior_." Severus grinned as he was gloating at Minerva.

Clara made a snorting sound which directed Severus attention towards her instead. "What was that Cummins," Severus glared at Clara as his dark eyes met hers.

Again Clara found it strange, but she found his eyes to be very attractive. She shook her head before retorting back. "Please Severus, if it wasn't your favoritism towards your Slytherin students and your hatred for Gryffindor I would feel quite confident that Gryffindors would be in the lead for the House Cup. I myself find that the Gryffindor house has been rather pleasant to teach unlike _some_ of your Slytherin students."

Minerva grinned at Clara's comment before she decided to speak. "See, I'm not the only one who thinks that your being unfair Severus." Minerva looked directly at Clara and worded thank you to the young witch.

Severus looked quite angry before he composed himself again and grunted at the two women.

The food suddenly appeared on the table and soon everyone's attention was directed towards the delicious bounty of Halloween inspired treats and meals. Clara began the conversation again. "Severus, I was actually wondering if you could help me demonstrate nonverbal dueling spells for my 6th year students Monday afternoon. I had a feeling that your willingness and suggestions to help improve my lesson plans made me think that you are the perfect candidate for this task."

"The students wouldn't last two seconds if I dueled against them," sneered Severus.

Clara giggled before saying "I'm sorry, I should have clarified that you would be dueling against me, not the students, Severus." Clara raised an eyebrow and soon Severus was staring into her eyes again. "Are you afraid you might lose?"

Severus voice was silky smooth and his face seemed expressionless before responding, "Of course not. A dunderhead _American_ such as you probably wouldn't stand a chance against someone like me."

"Are you agreeing to my challenge Severus?" Clara said her eyes didn't even dare to move away from his.

"Indeed, I'll see you Monday afternoon and be ready to be humiliated in front of your own class." Severus smirked at her before returning to his food.

"Thank you Severus, I really do appreciate your help." Clara said sincerely as if she tried to ignore the last comment Severus made.

Severus looked back up into Clara's eyes looking surprised that she was being so kind to him. His eyebrows scrunched together for a split second before he nodded at Clara. Clara smiled back at him.

* * *

><p>Clara was in front of her students, her white robes trailing behind her as she began to walk among the desk in her classroom. Severus was leaning against the wall his wand already out, eagerly waiting for the duel to begin. Clara made it clear to Severus that she wanted to speak to the class before the demonstration would begin.<p>

"The dark arts are never to be underestimated and mastering nonverbal spells is crucial when it comes to life and death. This particular subject is always changing just as our own society itself changes throughout time. Creativity should never be undervalued and innovation is extremely encouraged if you wish to stand a chance against the dark forces." Clara was now leaning against her desk facing the class and arms folded in front of her with a grin on her face.

Severus couldn't help but be amazed at how Clara talked about the subject of dark arts. It was as if she herself was in love with the subject. Severus admired the women for a moment; she really knew a thing or two about the subject, but not nearly as much as he did. No matter, the students will know shortly who the master of dark arts really is.

Clara stood up and continued on "Today Professor Snape has graciously agreed to duel against me to show you all what a nonverbal duel looks like. However, naturally these duels would end in death so we will only be aiming to disarm our opponent today." Clara turned towards Severus and nodded her head to make sure Severus understood the rules of this duel. Severus got up and walked towards Clara. Clara asked her students to stand around the edges of the classroom and with a flick of her wand all the desk seemed to vanish into thin air. Severus and Clara walked to the center of the room. Severus was actually grinning as if he seemed ecstatic at the chance to show everyone his capabilities.

"First we bow, as this is generally tradition before the start of any duel." They both bowed at each other and then they turned around, took five paces forward before they turned again to face each other. "On the count of three." The room was dead silent and the students looked eager to see who the winner would be. "One…Two…Three."

Just then a red flash of light came from Severus's wand, but Clara blocked it immediately and countered with another jinx that flew straight back at the attacker. Severus wasn't able to read her mind as she was just as skilled as he was at Occulmency. He blocked her spell and shot three consecutive spells back. Clara's grin widen as she blocked each spell before sending a flash of green light back at Severus. Severus spun around to avoid the spell and then sent out a blackish purple force of smoke that was directed at Clara. But then something strange occurred Clara lifted her hand as if her hand could actually block the spell. Her hand appeared to be absorbing the energy before she flicked the same hand back at Severus. Severus has never seen this kind of magic before and knew at once that she was more powerful than him.

Caught off guard by the odd magic Severus flew back into the wall, but his hand was still clutching his wand. Clara looked like she was really enjoying this now. Desperate to win the battle Severus sent out a flash of white light, but as if Clara predicted this she began to spin on the spot as if she was going to apparate before a large orb of white light came from where she was standing. Severus's spell then collided with her own. Soon the white light blinded everyone in the room which concealed that fact that Clara intentionally dropped her wand with a giggle before she decided to lie on the ground. Everyone could see once more and was shocked to see that Clara had her eyes closed and was on the ground with her wand far away from her body.

Severus had a surprised look on his face as he knew that his spell doesn't work that way, but the dunderhead students wouldn't have noticed, they would think that he won the duel. Why on earth to did she fake her defeat? This seemed to anger Severus despite him appearing to win the duel. Severus walked over to the witch and brought his hand out to help lift the witch up from the ground. Clara's eyes opened when she heard Severus stand next to her and grabbed his hand to bring herself back onto her feet. The students began to clap when she spoke again. "Let's all congratulate our potions master for his wonderful dueling skill." She looked at Severus's beautiful dark eyes and smiled at him as if she was graciously admitted her own defeat. She paused to allow the students to clap once more before she continued speaking. "Now that you _really_ know what a nonverbal duel looks like, I want you all to grab a partner and practice disarming your opponent without saying a word."

"Clara, may I have a word with you _outside_." Severus said coldly as the students were starting to practice.

Clara's eyes seemed focused on her students when she said "Now is not the time to discuss anything Severus. As you can see my students are currently practicing and it would be _ill-advised_ to leave them unattended."

"Fine, but I _demand_ an explanation for this," Severus whispered. "I would like to see you in my office tonight at 8 o'clock sharp." Severus glared at Clara hoping she would give him the answers now.

"Severus it sounds to me like I have detention, you are aware that I'm not a student and I did nothing wrong. You won the duel, why can't you just drop it" Clara began to walk around the room, her white robes following swiftly behind her as she began offering suggestions to students. Severus knew that now wouldn't be the time to press her any further. Severus promptly turned to the door and stormed out the room, his black robes billowing behind him as he left.


	9. Chapter 9 - The Disagreement

_**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and all related characters are copyright of J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This story has no intention of making money and all credit goes to J. K. Rowling's hard work and ideals. I'm just a fan that wants to write about other Defense Against the Dark Arts Teachers who taught at Hogwarts._

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><p><strong>Chapter 9 - The Disagreement<strong>

Severus was sitting impatiently at his desk while he waited for Clara's arrival. It was five past 8 and he was about to head to his fireplace when the door lightly knocked. "Enter," demanded Severus and he watch as his office door opened and Clara came inside. She stood by the door and Severus walked over to his desk to sit back down. He stared at the women who wasn't even moving and realized that she was waiting for him to ask her to take a seat. "Well…sit down!"

Clara walked slowly to the chair next to his desk as she looked around his office before she spoke "Your office is quite cold and dark, Severus, you should really paint it a more inviting color." Clara sat down and smiled at him

"Enough small chat Cummins! You and I both know that you faked your defeat. I demand to know why!" Severus glared at Clara and his eyes looked like they were endless pits that drew Clara into him as she began to try and understand this man better.

Clara sighed and began to explain. "Severus, I can tell that your ego and pride means _everything_ to you. It was evident that I was going to win that duel. However, I decided instead of having a _bitter_ Professor walking around the corridors for the next several weeks I thought that I would make it look like you won. I thought I was doing you a service, but clearly I was wrong." Clara's folded her arms and waited for Severus to respond.

"As touching as your act was, that magic you performed was _extremely_ dark. I can't help but have a feeling that you yourself are a dark witch and this whole teaching thing is just an act." Severus eyes were now slits and his face was dangerous looking.

Clara looked shocked before she stood up and said, "You're such a hypocrite Severus! Really, you think this teaching thing is just an act! Do you really think Albus would hire me if I was a dark witch? I thought you of all people would know better than to think a witch or wizard is pure light or dark anyways. _Everyone_ has their flaws. Severus, weren't you yourself a Death Eater." She raised her hand to stop him from talking. "Don't deny it, but why the change in heart Severus? What made you come back to the light side, huh?"

Severus faced looked grave for a split second before composing himself as he stood up and pointed his hand towards the door "None of your business! Now, get out!" Severus seemed to lose his temper as he spoke.

Clara hazel eyes appeared to look sad and she spoke softly, "I was just trying to be your friend by letting you win that duel Severus, I'm truly sorry if I upset you." And with that, Clara stormed out his office, flicked her wand which slammed the office door behind her. Severus sat down and ran his hand through his greasy hair at the events that just transpired.

* * *

><p>Later that evening Clara was storming around her room dwelling on every detail of her earlier conversation with Severus. Clearly he should have known that she really only had the best interest in mind when she lost that duel. Tears were now streaming down her face as she sat on the bed and sobbed. Why on earth did she care about him so much? She never felt anything towards any other human being in her life, why would she care now? She curled up in the bed and sobbed uncontrollable, thinking she would never fall asleep like this.<p>

Just then she could hear a knock outside her office door. She got up, still in her robes. She wiped her eyes and she approached the door to open it. She opened it surprised to see that it was Severus standing there. She looked up at him and said quietly "What now, come to yell at me some more." She opened the door wider to allow him in. The flame in her fireplace was almost dead before Clara flicked her wand to bring it back to life.

Severus looked down at her hazel eyes before walking past her and sitting down on one of her sofa chairs near the fireplace. "I'm sorry," Severus said abruptly.

Clara still stood by the door, "Then why don't I believe you."

"Maybe because your emotions are getting the better of you and this is affecting your better judgment." Severus said smoothly as he gazed into her eyes once more.

Clara huffed and then sat next to the other sofa chair before trying to speak, but nothing came out. Severus could tell that she had been crying for several hours as her the skin around her eyes was a blotchy red color. Severus looked away from her face and stared at the crackling warm fire waiting for her to respond. Clara finally manages to make a sound come out of her mouth "It's possible…that my judgment could be…compromised…I guess." She paused for moment before speaking again. "I accept your apology." She took out her hand to shake his before saying "Friends?"

Severus looked at her hand tentatively before coming to terms with something in his mind "I suppose we can be friends."

He took Clara's hand and returned the handshake. There was an awkward silence among them and then to Clara's surprise Severus began to speak. "I was curious how you performed that spell in which you were able to do with your hand?"

Clara tried to smile, stood up, looked down at Severus and said. "Would you like some wine while I try and find the book that has the spell."

Severus hesitated before saying "I suppose…"

Clara conjured up two wine glasses and an elf-made wine from the United States. She poured the white wine into their glasses and then set hers down onto her mantle place above the fire. She walked over to the bookshelf which contained the spell book Severus was interested in. She walked gracefully back to Severus and handed the book to him. She grabbed her wine glass, raised it and said "To the beauty and wonder of the Dark Arts."

Both drank their glasses and then she refilled them. She sat back into her chair sipping her wine and stared at the blazing fire. Severus began reading the contents quietly and sipped his wine. Clara move to the edge of her chair and leaned towards Severus. "So what do you think of the book, feel free to borrow it for a while if you like." Clara's hair fell in front of her eyes beginning to hide her face.

Severus closed the book at set it on the ground. He moved to the edge of his seat. There was absolute silence for a moment before he lifted his arm and gently brushed the hair that was in Clara's face. Clara inhaled his scent. He smelt like asphodel tonight. Clara blushed and tilted her head down and away from his face. Severus used his hand to tilt her head back up so that he could look into her eyes. His eyes overwhelmed her and the expression in them showed deep longing and desire. She lost all of her current thoughts and her body possessed her to stand up. She simply said "Severus."

Severus stood up to the sound of his name and his eyes burned into hers as he took a step closer. "Yes." He said softly.

Clara took a step closer to him so that their bodies were practically an inch apart from each other. "I…I think I would like to be more than just friends with you."

Severus's eyebrows rose to her response and then suddenly his hands were on the top of her shoulders as he closed the distance between them. Clara could feel the passion and urgency as his lips touched hers. He then pushed her backwards and her back collided against the wall. His hands began to slide down her arms and onto her waist. The kiss deepened before he finally pulled away and they looked into each other's eyes, both of them gasping for air.

Severus responded "I think I would like that."

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Clara was disoriented for a moment before she realized that it was her alarm clock that was making the infuriating sound. She noticed that she was curled up in her bed and knew that this was all just a dream. However, what wasn't a dream were her deepest desires to want to be with Severus. She sighed as she knew she needed to get ready to teach classes for the day. She used the power of Occulmency to rid her mind of any emotions as she wanted to be completely in control of her body and mind after this recent dream.


	10. Chapter 10 - The Barman

_**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and all related characters are copyright of J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This story has no intention of making money and all credit goes to J. K. Rowling's hard work and ideals. I'm just a fan that wants to write about other Defense Against the Dark Arts Teachers who taught at Hogwarts._

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><p><strong>Chapter 10 - The Barman<strong>

Clara needed a distraction to keep her mind and emotions constantly away from Severus. For several weeks she tried avoiding any encounters with Severus and decided to head over to Hogsmeade one Saturday morning. Trudging through the snow she looked around the town and went inside the Hog's Head Inn wanting to try a new place and to get out of the cold. She removed her white cloak and rested it on a bar stool next to her. Today she was back in her muggle attire as she really despised wearing dresses. The barman appeared and asked if she wanted anything to drink. Clara thought about what she wanted but her eyes were focused on the window. All her students seem to keep talking about this butterbeer drink, not something they have in American. Feeling adventures she said "One butterbeer please."

The man responding, "One butterbeer coming right up." Clara was twirling her finger on the wood moving it in unfamiliar patterns as she dwelled on the mystery behind how a little boy, Harry, survived a killing curse? Her research hadn't brought much luck, when the barman finally placed the butterbeer next to her. She took a sip as the warm liquid slide down her throat. It was extremely delicious and then she looked up at the man to thank him when she realized that he looked oddly familiar. He didn't seem quite skilled in Occulmency as she could easily invade his mind before she responded. "Excuse me, but you wouldn't happen to be related to Albus now would you?"

The barman glared at her before he retorted back, "He's my brother!" The man sounded very resentful and made Clara question if they had some sort of fallout. "Not many people can recognize the relation."

"I'm Clara Cummins, the current professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts…and you are?" Clara had her hand out waiting for him to return her handshake.

The man huffed, shook her hand, and said "Aberforth Dumbledore, I wouldn't be surprised though if he didn't even mention the fact that that job you have is cursed. No one last more than a year at that job."

"I'm sorry but it seems to me that you two do not get along. Would you care to divulge why that is? After all if you say my job is cursed, I won't even be around long enough anyways." She smiled at him to await his response.

"Everyone thinks my brother is such a saint. I'll have you know that he is the reason our sister, Ariana, is dead. Albus and his friend Gellert Geindelwald thought about leading a revolution in ending the International Statue of Secrecy and create a world where witches and wizards rule." Aberforth had anger on his face.

"Wait, I'm confused. I thought Albus defeated Grindelwald in a legendary duel and Grindelwald was imprisoned for his crimes. Surely they were never friends." Clara was intrigued by this dark past Albus had.

"Shows you how much you know about Albus Dumbledore." He sighed and began washing the tables.

Clara finished her drink, tipped the barman, and decided to put her white cloak back on before heading back outside and towards the castle.

* * *

><p>It was early December and Clara was sitting in her office reading through large stacks of newspaper to try and unravel the mystery behind Tom Riddle. She decided to look through the muggle papers to see if there were any unexplainable deaths that would make the obituaries. She came across an article explaining the Riddle House murder in which a husband, wife, and there adult son were all found dead. Their deaths baffled the local police and this told Clara that this most have been from the killing curse. But what was really interesting was the fact that the adult's son name was Tom Riddle.<p>

Morfin Gaunt was accused of the crime, along with his confession, and was later sent to Azkaban. Interesting, Riddle's father was a muggle, and considering Riddle was on a crusade known for murdering muggles or muggle-borns it seemed like it would be odd that this Morfin Gaunt would be the murderer. It must have been disappointing to Riddle to find out he has a muggle father. Clara then decided to investigate any marriages that occurred around the time Riddle was born based on the age Tom Riddle Sr. was in his obituary report. He did marry a women name Merope Gaunt and then the lightbulb clicked. Morfin must be related to Merope. Clara grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and began writing something down.

_Albus,_

_I would look into the Riddle murder from Morfin Gaunt, even though he confessed to the crime, I suspect there might be more than meets the eye. Also it seems that Tom Riddle's mother is Merope Gaunt and I believe she is related to Morfin._

_Hope this helps,_

_Clara_

She went outside her office and was lucky to see a student passing by. She grabbed the student and said, "Miss Li, would you please deliver this note to Professor Dumbledore."

The student looked scared as if she did something wrong before she relaxed and nodded her head "Yes Professor Cummins."

"Thank you." Clara patted her shoulder and returned to her office. It was beginning to get dark outside when Clara decided to head down to Poppy's office to ask for a sleeping draught. The late nights grading and researching in order to avoid sleeping was catching up with her. She knocked on her door and Poppy smiled when she responded "Clara, how can I help you?"

"Poppy, I was wondering if you had a sleeping draught in your stores, I seem in need for a temporary deep sleep to get my mind off grading." Clara said, Poppy could see the bags under her eyes.

Poppy's face frowned. "I'm sorry Clara, but I just recently ran out. You wouldn't believe how many students need it right around this time of year. I'll let Severus know and he will brew you a bottle. Goodnight" Poppy closed her office door.

Clara sighed as she turned around and headed back to her office. She decided to have a glass of wine and stared into her fireplace. She tried to distract her mind and began thinking about how someone could survive a killing curse. She grabbed a book, sat on her sofa near the fireplace, and started reading. By the time she finished her second glass of wine she heard a knock on her door. She waved her wand to open the door.

Severus was standing outside and he said "Poppy told me you needed this." Severus lifted his hand up to show a small vial.

Clara turned her head towards him, but tried to avoid his eye contact. "Yes, yes I did…Just set the vial on my desk. Thank you, Severus." She turned her head back towards the fire expecting Severus to leave soon before she noticed that he hadn't even moved from her office door.

Severus still had an expressionless face when he raised one eyebrow and retorted back, "Having troubles sleeping?"

Clara turned her head back to him and simply said, "Yes." She turned her attention back to her book.

Severus could see the bags under her eye and saw that there was a wine glass next to her sofa. He decided to ask "Care to go into more detail." He finally stepped inside her office.

Clara trying to be vague responded, "Not really, no." She turned her head back to the fireplace.

"Well as your colleague," he paused for a moment before he seemed to decide on something. "And _friend_, if you would like to discuss the matter...I may consider listening to what you might have to say."

Clara took her glasses off and rubbed the bridge between her nose with her fingers. She sighed before saying, "Thank you Severus, I'm honored, but it's simply just a combination of many late nights of grading and researching."

Severus swiftly walked over to Clara's desk and placed the vial down and then left. However, undenounced to Severus, Clara had tears streaming down her eyes as he was leaving. She hated feeling this way, not being in control of her emotions, but secretly a part of her was happy that Severus said _friend_ just a few moments ago. That night Clara had a good night's sleep, but she suspected it wasn't because of the sleeping draught.


	11. Chapter 11 - Lynx in the Woods

_**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and all related characters are copyright of J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This story has no intention of making money and all credit goes to J. K. Rowling's hard work and ideals. I'm just a fan that wants to write about other Defense Against the Dark Arts Teachers who taught at Hogwarts._

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><p><strong>Chapter 11 - Lynx in the Woods<strong>

One evening when the weather was relatively calm outside, Clara decided that tonight would be decent enough to practice some new spells. She grabbed a couple of her muggle physics and dark art textbooks along with a notepad. She placed all the item in her backpack. She was still in her white robes before she placed her white cloak and backpack on and headed out of her office. On her way she ran into Filius, who she assumed was in charge of patrolling the corridors for the evening.

"Lumos, Oh Clara, What are you doing up this late." Filius asked as he approached her.

"Oh, hey Filius, I'm actually going to go out into the woods to see if I can find anything for my third year students. We've been focusing a lot on nocturnal beast lately and I was hoping to show a physical example for them to practice spells on." Clara said, her face was unreadable as she spoke.

"I see, be careful then." Filius warned the witch.

"Of course I will and thank you for the concern Filius." Clara smiled down at him before she continued her journey outside of the castle. She glanced over to Hagrid's hut to see that it was dark, assuring her that he must be asleep. She went into the woods her wand darn out and using all her senses to director her as she approached a small clearing. She knelt down and removed her textbooks. She opened to the tab pages of interest along with her notepad that she had been scribbling new magical theories in. She decided to leave her place of practicing completely dark as she did not want to draw any attention to people or other creatures that lurked in the woods. She placed her fingertips into the earth and closed her eyes to focus her thoughts on the spell. She slowly spoke in Latin, an ancient language, as she tried out her spell.

"Durus compello, dux ducis optimus. Subvenio refero," Clara said the spell three times and the earth began to rumble gently beneath her fingers after she finished speaking. Just then a beige-white lynx appeared to walk right in front of Clara. The medium sized lynx sat almost a foot away from her as it seemed to be patiently waiting for something. Clara tilted her head to the side and then whispered "Expecto Patronum."

Clara's own sliver lynx appeared and the two began playing with one another. Clara watched with a smile on her face, but was unsure what to make of the events that were transpiring around her. It was oddly calming to watch the two creatures play as if they were kittens trying to fight one another. Just then a doe appeared to walk gracefully near the two creatures. Clara's patronus disappeared, but the corporal lynx did something rather strange in Clara's mind. Instead of attaching the doe, the lynx brushed against it greeting the doe as if it were an old friend. Puzzled by these events Clara continued to ponder on whether this was part of her spell or if it was something entirely different. But soon she felt drowsy and decided to pack her things up and return to her office.

The next morning as Clara was sipping her coffee at the staff table desperately trying to wake herself up. Severus and Minerva were at it again trying to brag about their house being superior to the other. Clara rolled her eyes as the conversation seemed to be going nowhere. Just then Filius walked into the Great Hall and approached Clara, curious about her evening affairs.

"Morning Clara, did you have any luck last night?" Filius asked. Minerva and Severus seemed distracted by Filius's vague comment to Clara and they too were listening intently.

"I'm afraid not. I did however see a beautiful lynx in the woods. Although, I don't think a lynx would be good practice for studying nocturnal beast for the third year students." Clara giggled as she sipped her coffee some more.

"I see, well it's good to see you came out of the woods in one piece at least." Filius sighed for a moment before continuing, "Now off to charms, have you guys been noticing that the students are getting whiney as we approach the Christmas Holiday."

Severus, Minerva, and Clara all nodded in agreement to Filius's statement. "I think we could use the break just as much as they do the way my grading has been going lately. I seem to be spending more time correcting grammar than the actual flaws in the spell theory itself." Clara replied with a disappointed look on her face. Minerva and Filius laughed and then both left for their morning classes.

Severus turned his attention to Clara and said, "Yes, it does seem that the dunderheads have not really learned anything at all." He waited until Minerva and Filius were out of ear shot before suddenly redirecting the conversation. "In the woods again I see, what _exactly_ are you up to? I'm sure with your talents you would have found something _worthy_ by now for your lesson plans. I can't help but suspect that you are doing something else in there that isn't academically related," sneered Severus as his dark eyes looked into hers.

Clara sighed and stood up before saying. "Maybe I am, maybe I am not. But as your friend I'll let you know what I have been up too. I've been practicing with some new spells. Surely you should know that constant innovation is crucial to the success of defending against the dark arts, Severus. I personally feel the woods are a safe place to try these new spells." Clara grinned down at him.

"Well I appreciate that you would confine in me what you have been up too." Severus replied as politely as he could. This slightly caught Clara off-guard as it seemed that Severus was being nice for a change. She nodded at him and he nodded back at her before she left the Great Hall to prep for her classes.


	12. Chapter 12 - Christmas Holiday

_**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and all related characters are copyright of J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This story has no intention of making money and all credit goes to J. K. Rowling's hard work and ideals. I'm just a fan that wants to write about other Defense Against the Dark Arts Teachers who taught at Hogwarts._

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><p><strong>Chapter 12 - Christmas Holiday<strong>

It was the evening of Christmas and only a small table could be found in the Great Hall as only 4 students stayed at the school for the Holidays. They all sat around the table, the students were enjoying the gifts they found in their Wizard Crackers. Clara was sitting in between Albus and Severus as they began eating their delicious meal that the house elves had prepared. Albus's piercing blue eyes were looking at Clara before he spoke, "Clara, thank you for that advice you gave me the other day. It was quite useful."

Clara nodded and smiled. "You're welcome Albus." Although, mentally she couldn't ignore her recent conversation with Albus's brother and decided to keep her guard up whenever she was around him, in case he was trying to use her for his own selfish gain. In some ways she admired Albus though, she herself wanted to be known as the greatest witch of all time and suspected that she herself may not be so different from him. Clara directed her attention back towards her food. However, this vague chat between Clara and Albus made Severus wonder what they were up to.

Clara came back to her room happy to finally get out of her robes and into something more comfortable. She decided to put on gray sweatpants and a plain black t-shirt. She returned to her sofa in her office and sat in the chair pretzel style. She didn't want to have her feet touch the stone cold floor. She conjured up a wine glasses and a bottle of wine flew to her hand for her to catch. This bottle of wine was a Christmas gift given to her by her sister. She laid her head back against the sofa and closed her eyes for a moment before she heard a knock at her door. She flicked her wand to allow the person entry.

"You know you should really ask who is there before you open the door." Severus said, his voice was smooth as he stepped inside.

Clara sighed and responded "Do you suspect someone is trying to kill me Severus." She lifted her hand and pointed it towards her other sofa near the fireplace. "Well, fell free to sit down."

Severus glared at the back of her head but walked over and sat down.

"I apologize for my attire, but I wasn't expecting any company this evening. Would you care for some wine?" Clara said and took a sip of her own. She had a strange feeling of Deja-vu.

"I suppose," Severus said slowly and Clara conjured another wine glasses, poured some wine into it, and handed it over to Severus.

"Well, what is with the surprise visit Severus?" Clara readjusted in her chair and crossed her legs, patiently waiting for a response, her eyes never moving from the fireplace.

"What are you and Albus up to; clearly Albus has you doing something for him." Severus took a sip of the wine.

"I'm sorry Severus, but if Albus does not wish to include you in my particular affairs with him, then I think it would be wise to drop this subject. I know you are quite skilled at Legilimency and I know you're trying to get inside my head. I'm not _foolish_." Clara closed her eyes and tilted her head to each side of her shoulder. She was trying to stretch out the knot forming on the back of her neck.

"Well I figured that since we are friends, I thought you would be willing enough to share like you did before. Perhaps I could be of some assistance." Severus was staring down Clara, hoping she would tell him her secret.

"If it makes you feel better, it has nothing to do with you. But I'm afraid that you will need to discuss this matter with Albus. Maybe he will be willing to include you in," Clara responded.

"Fine!" Severus stood up, set the glass of wine on the mantle place, and stormed out of room slamming the door behind him.

Clara winced at the sound of the door slamming and she closed her eyes once more.

Albus heard a knock on his door and let the person inside. "Aw, Severus, and what do I owe the pleasure this evening." Albus was sitting behind his desk and his piercing blue eyes met his black ones.

Severus sneered "What have you and that _American_ witch been up to. I demand to know! Possibly I could even be of some assistance." Severus walked over and sat down at a chair next to his desk.

Albus tilted his head down a bit and said "Professor Clara Cummins, Severus. And I don't think I want to let you on what she is doing for me."

"I'm just as skilled as she is, why her Albus. Don't you trust me?" Severus was beginning to sound frustrated.

"Severus, Clara's ability to do research is one of the reasons I hired her." Albus looked grave at the frustrated Severus.

"But why can't I have the same information, haven't I proven to you my allegiance. Are you going to at least let me in on the other reasons you hired her." Severus voice was smooth but cold when he spoke.

Albus smiled for a moment as if he was happy about something. "Well naturally we needed another person for the job." He raised his hand to indicate that he didn't wish to be interpreted. "And no, I'm not letting you teach it either. We have already discussed the reasons why I don't want you to teach that position Severus. Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?"

Severus's eyes were like slits before he spoke. "That is seriously all you're going to tell me. Well then no, I have nothing else to discuss." This was infuriating him; he got up and quickly showed himself out the door. His billowing black robes following behind him before the door closed on its own accord. By the time he got back to his office door, he was surprised to see a little note by his door and bottle of elf-made red wine with a beautiful bow placed on the bottle. He picked up the note and read.

_Severus,_

_My deepest apology; I did not mean to anger you or make you feel left out. I suppose Albus is just taking advantage of my muggle researching skills. I am sorry if Albus does not wish for you to be included in my assignment but I assure you that it really isn't that important. Please know that as your friend, if I did need any help, I would most likely seek your assistance first._

_Sincerely,_

_Clara Cummins_

_P.S. Merry Christmas Severus, hope you enjoy this bottle of wine._

Severus smirked after reading the letter. He oddly did feel a little better after reading Clara's note. He picked up the bottle of wine and went inside his office to retire for the evening.


	13. Chapter 13 - Dreams of Asphodel

_**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and all related characters are copyright of J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This story has no intention of making money and all credit goes to J. K. Rowling's hard work and ideals. I'm just a fan that wants to write about other Defense Against the Dark Arts Teachers who taught at Hogwarts._

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><p><strong>Chapter 13 - Dreams of Asphodel<strong>

"Hey Sev, wait up," said a beautiful women with thick, dark red hair. The women wearing white robes approached the tall, thin, hooked nose, and greasy black shoulder length haired man. His black robes were billowing behind him as he walked the seventh floor corridor of Hogwarts, searching for any students out of bed. Her bright green eyes looked up at Severus and the man stopped in his tracks mesmerized by her attractive appearance.

"Hey, what are you doing out this late. I do not recall that you were also on patrol this evening." Severus said smoothly as he greedily looked into the witch's eyes.

"Sev, it's only me. I just wanted to keep you company anyways. I figured it must be a lonely job patrolling the corridors." The witch giggled as she held out her hand to hold his. Severus immediately took hers without a moment's hesitation. Her hands were soft, gentle, and warm. He smiled down at their hands, now intertwined.

"This is why your my best friend you know," replied Severus as they began walking again.

"I'm only your best friend," the red haired witched pouted.

"What do you mean," Severus said confused.

"I mean aren't we more than just best friends, Sev? I know what you have done Sev and I think it is rather brave of you to fight against something that you have admired for so long. I care for you Severus," The witch responded, stopping there walk to look at his dark eyes.

"What about _him_? He likes you, you know." Severus said with disgust.

"This is not about him; this is about you and me. Right now in the present," the witch smiled at him as she gently removed her hand from his and placed them on his chest moving closer to him.

His face continued to look greedily at her as if he could not get enough of her presence. She smelt of lavender as they gazed at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Just then a door appeared behind Severus and to his surprise the women grabbed his hand and led him into the mysterious room. When they entered the small room, it was dimly lit by the fireplace. It appeared to look like his bedroom, with a comfortable looking bed that was across from the fireplace.

"Hmmm, I think this is the Room of Requirement Sev," said the witch as she continued to walk him towards the bed. They stopped only inches from the bed when the women abruptly turned towards Severus and looked back into his dark eyes. She positioned her hand on his chest again and rose on her tip toes as she gradually placed her lips onto his. Severus immediately tangled one of his hands into her red hair and the other on her lower back to pull her closer towards him.

The kiss deepened as Severus was urgent to have more of her. They broke away to catch their breaths. The women sat down on the bed and pulled Severus towards him. They slowly made their way towards the middle of the bed as they continued to kiss each other passionately. The women clasped her leg around Severus's waist and Severus moved his hands so that one was now delicately cradling the back of her head and the other slid down from her waist to her lower thigh. The witch moved her own hands so that they were now on his back to pull him tighter towards her.

Severus pulled his head up to move some of the strands of hair that were in her face, but he noticed that the women seemed to suddenly changed appearance. Her hair was now brownish blonde and her eyes were not only green but they also had hints of blue in them as well. It wasn't Lily anymore but it was Clara. Severus awoke, sitting straight up in his bed, back in his own personal quarters. He ran his hand through his greasy black hair trying not to think about the dream he just had.

* * *

><p>For the next several weeks Severus did everything in his power to try and avoid any contact with Clara. Clara was doing the same thing, avoiding Severus. Clara was in her office reading a muggle physics textbook out of boredom. Her eyes came across the text stating <em>every action has an equal and opposite reaction<em>. Clara knew this line so well that it was practically burned into her brain but then she suddenly sensed a deeper meaning to the phrase. She grabbed one of her spell books on dark arts and found the phrase that sounded similar to this muggle saying. Trying to find the right page she was distracted by another spell that was written. It mentioned about how a sacrifice needed to be made in order to complete the spell. She rested her head on her hand and just kept repeating the stupid word sacrifice over and over again inside her head. Could an opposite reaction like a different type of sacrifice also undue the spell? But what kind of sacrifice would it need to be. She stored this recent idea in the back of her mind as she needed to get ready to teach her seventh year student's patronus charms today. As she arrived at her classroom, most of her students were already there waiting for her to open the door.

"I see you guys are early today, must be excited to do patronus charms today." Clara said as she flicked her wand to allow her students entry to her class. As the class settled into their seats, Clara stood in front of her desk waiting. She flicked her wand to collect their previous assignment before she continued speaking. "Now then, I assume you all did your homework and provided me with a happy/powerful memory. I want you to take this time to remember what you wrote down. Remember, if the memory is not powerful enough, you will probably not have a corporal patronus, but this is not anything to be ashamed of. Let the worry and fear of not being able to produce this patronus disappear as this will only prevent you from achieving your main goal today. Allow this memory to consume you and your mind. Let this memory flow through you as you focus and concentrate more deeply into this memory. Now draw out your wands and say out loud Expecto Patronum. Just like this, Expecto Patronum."

Clara waved her wand but to her sudden surprise her sliver lynx no longer appeared, but a sliver doe appeared when she completed the incantation. The students even seemed to notice the shock that the professor was exhibiting as she could read their minds. She tried to quickly control her emotions and redirect her students' attention to the task at hand by threatening more homework if they couldn't even produce a non-corporal patronus by the end of the lesson. After the class was over, Clara couldn't help but conjure the sliver doe again immediately understanding that the spell she tried in the woods many weeks ago was indicating that her patronus would change, change to something she was in love with…


	14. Chapter 14 - Death of Emily Cummins

_**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and all related characters are copyright of J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This story has no intention of making money and all credit goes to J. K. Rowling's hard work and ideals. I'm just a fan that wants to write about other Defense Against the Dark Arts Teachers who taught at Hogwarts._

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><p><strong>Chapter 14 - Death of Emily Cummins<br>**

It was the end of January, and the weather had subzero wind chills. Clara didn't even bother practicing any new spells in woods as she did not wish to get frostbite from being exposed out in the cold weather for too long. She was comfortably seated at her desk, grading with her red pen and listening to the crackling fire that was lit in her fireplace. Just then she heard a loud knock on her door and she waved her wand to allow the person entry. It was a 1st year Gryffindor student with red hair and was holding a letter in his hand. The student's chest was puffed out as if he was given an extremely vital task. He walked over to her desk to hand the note over to his Professor.

"Thank you Mr. Weasley, you may go." Clara stared at the note for a moment. This looked like an official letter from the United States. When the student nodded and left her room, Clara flicked her wand to lock her office door and proceeded to open the letter.

_Dear Dr. Clara Cummins,_

_We regret to inform you that your mother, Emily R. Cummins, passed away last night. You are the responsible party in charge of taking care of the arrangements upon her death._

_Our deepest sympathy,_

_Taylor Wilson_

_Assistant to the Wizarding President of the United States of America _

She neatly laid the letter down on her desk, stood up, and headed straight to Albus's office. She knocked on his door and Albus responded "Come in."

Clara's face was expressionless as she came and stood by his desk her hands behind her back waiting for Albus to look up at her.

"My deepest sympathy Clara." Albus looked up at the young witch and his face looked sincere when he spoke those words.

Clara raised an eyebrow and responded "You know Albus your intuition never ceases to amaze me, I'm starting to understand why people get annoyed with me." And then her tone became more serious as she continued speaking. "Obviously I will have to return to the United States for a few days to take care of the body. I recommend Severus to sub for me while I'm away. Let's see, today is Thursday…I believe I will be able to return no later than Sunday evening."

"Are you sure you don't wish to take any more time off." Albus tilted his down with that face that told her he knew more than what she was letting him on.

Clara squinted for a second and retorted back, "Sorry Albus, but I was never entirely close to the women." She paused and smirked at Albus, his dark past coming back to haunt Clara's mind for a moment.

"I see, well I wish you safe travels and I'll let Severus know straight away." Albus looked over at his beautiful phoenix, but Clara had the feeling he was hiding his face from her.

Clara turned on the spot, walked out of the office, and towards the gate on the school grounds. Caring no luggage, she passed the gates of the school and apparated back to the United States.

Severus was at his desk sneering as he attempted to grade assignments when a timid knock came from his office door. "Enter," a scared looking 2nd year Ravenclaw nervously came to his desk, dropped the note, and dashed out the room. Severus smirked at the scared student running away from him and looked inside the note.

_Severus,_

_On behave of Professor Cummins; she would like you to sub for all her classes tomorrow as she will be away due to a death in the family. She will be returning Sunday evening to resume teaching Monday morning._

_Albus_

Severus was curious about the death in Clara's family. Who could it be? He decided to do some investigative work and summoned a house elf from the Hogwarts kitchen. He asked the elf to bring him several American wizarding newspapers. Within a few moments the elf returned with a massive stack that was three times larger than the elf. The elf dropped the stack near his desk and bowed before apparating back to the kitchen. Severus began to glance through articles till late through the evening.


	15. Chapter 15 - The Answer is Love

_**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and all related characters are copyright of J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This story has no intention of making money and all credit goes to J. K. Rowling's hard work and ideals. I'm just a fan that wants to write about other Defense Against the Dark Arts Teachers who taught at Hogwarts._

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><p><strong>Chapter 15 - The Answer is Love<strong>

Clara apparated back near the gates of Hogwarts and began the long journey back up towards the castle through the wet snow. She dropped off her white cloak in her office and made the decision that she wanted to thank Severus for subbing her classes while she was away.

She knocked on his office door waiting for him to respond. Moments later the door swung open. Clara looked up into his dark eyes and his eyes met hers. "Yes Clara."

Clara hesitated as she lost her thoughts as soon as she looked into his eyes. "Ah…I."

"I don't have all day." Snape sneered

"I just wanted to thank you for subbing for me; I really appreciate your help Severus" said Clara smiling up at him.

"You're welcome and my apologies on your recent loss." And then Severus actually closed the distance between them and awkwardly attempted to give her a hug. Clara could sense that this man was not a hug giver, but Clara breathed in his scent. He smelt like mandrake root today, probably from making a pepperup potion. She actually felt a sense of comfort by Severus's odd embrace, despite the awkward hug he gave her. He then abruptly turned and closed the door behind him. Clara looked slightly dumbstruck but then smirked and headed back to her own office.

Severus, on the other hand couldn't explain what he had just done. He managed to take deep breath while he was leaning against his office door. He closed his eyes and tried to envision Lily. Clara was clearly trying to drive him crazy with temptation, which he might add was becoming harder to resist. He took another slow deep breath still trying to focus on Lily before he returned to his desk to grade, hoping this attempt to distract his mind.

* * *

><p>A week after her mother's death, Clara's nose was back in her textbooks thinking about how Harry Potter survived. Nothing she was aware of could stop a killing curse. The word sacrifice came to her mind again. What could be a powerful enough sacrifice? She wondered about it for a moment. She tilted her head and thought about what sacrifice she would do if someone was trying to kill her, but nothing came to mind. Then she wondered what she would do if someone tried to kill…Severus. She thought about for a moment and would sacrifice <em>herself<em> to save him. In that moment she realized the answer was love and knew that she _loved_ Severus. She got up and grabbed a different textbook. She glanced through the pages but found nothing on how love could repel curses. She conjured a piece of paper and scribbled down quickly.

_Albus,_

_The answer to why Harry Potter survived is love. His parents must have sacrificed themselves to protect their child from harm. How it works, I'm not entirely sure, but I do suspect that it was a great enough sacrifice to stop a killing curse._

_Clara_

In a hurry, she enchanted the note to fly to Albus's office to await his response. Minutes later another note flew under her office door and then right above her head. She snatched the note and read his reply.

_Clara,_

_Meet me in my office in 5 minutes._

_Albus_

_P.S. I like lemon drops_

Clara threw on her white robes and rushed towards Albus's office and upon arriving she sat by his desk to await his thoughts on the subject matter. Albus stood up from his desk and stared out the window, his hands behind his back before he spoke.

"Are you sure you suspect that it was love that saved Harry?" Albus said quietly

"Well it would be rather difficult for me to test out this theory Albus, but I feel like it needs to be a _great_ sacrifice to counter a spell like this. However, do you know how the love sacrifice spell works?" Clara readjusted her glasses as she responded.

"Love is very old magic and part of human nature. But it is defiantly not spell; it's simply an act of complete care and deviation." Albus headed back to his desk and sat back down. "This is brilliant work Clara!"

"You're welcome Albus." Clara had the feeling there was nothing more to discuss here and got up, nodded her head, and left.

That evening as Clara lay in bed; her mind was focused on one thing only. She loves the potions master here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.


	16. Chapter 16 - Valentine's Day

_**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and all related characters are copyright of J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This story has no intention of making money and all credit goes to J. K. Rowling's hard work and ideals. I'm just a fan that wants to write about other Defense Against the Dark Arts Teachers who taught at Hogwarts._

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><p><strong>Chapter 16 - Valentine's Day <strong>

It was Friday afternoon and Clara just finished teaching her 5th year students. As she was about to leave her classroom to return to her office, she noticed a small note that was on the ground near one of the students desk. She picked up the note and decided to read what was inside.

_Are you excited for Valentine's Day tomorrow! Do you have a date to Hogsmeade?_

_ I'm not looking forward to tomorrow, I don't have a date._

_ Really! Because I'm pretty sure Charlie Weasley has had your eye on you for quite some time now. Plus he is one of the best quidditch players on Gryffindor. I think you should at least talk to him. _

_ Seriously, I didn't even know! Maybe I will if you agree to help me out. Speaking of Valentine's Day, do you think Professor Cummins would go out with Professor Snape! I think that they would make a great couple. I'm hoping the Professor Cummins can soften up Professor Snape so that he isn't so bitter during classes!_

_ I totally agree with you!_

Clara smirked at the contents in the note, but she scrunched her eyes for a moment and tilted her head to the side to think about this in more detail. Why on earth would a teenage girl write about her Professors and more importantly leave that note in the room of the Professor in which they were gossiping about. Something seemed very fishy about this. She never even heard any of these types of thoughts from her students, as far as she was aware of, the students didn't suspect anything was going on between Clara and Severus. Then it came to her, this wasn't from a student, this was from a faculty member. She rushed out of her classroom, her elegant white robes following behind her. She knocked on Minerva's office door. The door opened and Clara stormed right up to Minerva's desk, in which Minerva was grading papers, and Clara slammed the note on top of the witches paperwork.

"You think this is funny Minerva! I can tell this is your hand writing. No teenage girl would leave a note that pertained to me in my own classroom," Clara said sounding a little disgruntled.

"Oh, I was not trying to be mean. I just thought you should ask Severus to go to out with you tomorrow. Heaven knows that Severus needs a break from classwork; it would be nice to see Severus out and acting human for a change. At least consider my suggestion Clara, I can tell you fancy the man." Minerva said, her facial features appearing sincere as she spoke.

"I…I suppose it wouldn't hurt to ask him. How could you tell I fancied him?" Clara questioned Minerva

"Let's just say I could tell by the way you speak to him during dinners. You guys have quite similar interest in the dark arts subject and that is the only thing you two talk about when we're eating," replied Minerva as she smiled up at Clara.

"I see, well then wish me luck. You and I both know I'm going to need it to convince Severus to agree to do anything not school related." Clara giggled as she turned around and left Minerva's office and headed down the dungeon to see the potions master. On the way there, she tried to think of an idea that would convince Severus to hang out with her. She lightly knocked on his door. A few moments later, Severus came and creaked open the door slightly to see who it was. When he say Clara he opened the door the rest of the way.

"Clara, and to what do I owe the pleasure." Severus said with one of his eye brows raised in suspicion.

"Severus, are any of your students serving detention with you tomorrow," said Clara as her eyes locked on his dark ones.

"Just one student at around 8 o'clock at night, why do you ask," question Severus in his smooth voice.

"Spectacular, I would like to talk about some dark art theories with you in the staffroom around 10 o'clock tomorrow morning if you don't mind," responded Clara, grinning at him. She turned and left not even really waiting for him to respond hoping this would force him to be in the staffroom tomorrow.

"I suppose…" Severus said slowly as he watched the witch already walk away from him. He couldn't help but question the odd arrangement he just made with the witch.

* * *

><p>The next morning Clara was in her white robes, her hair up in a ponytail, sitting on the couch near the fireplace in the staffroom. Her nose was in a physics textbook again trying to see if there were any new ways to combine muggle theory with the magical world. She sat with her legs crossed when suddenly a tall, thin greasy haired man came into the room. His black robes made him look bat like as he approached the sofa chair that was next the couch Clara was sitting at.<p>

"Good morning Severus," Clara said as Severus sat down. She closed her book and looked into his beautiful eyes.

"Morning Clara, and what exactly did you want to discuss today," said Severus his eyes glared at her trying to understand the purpose of this strange meeting.

"Right, well I was curious about some of your own innovative spells. I thought we could discuss some of our own inventions plus I need a break from grading and thought this would be a nice distraction for a change." Clara smiled at him sincerely.

They talked for about two hours going back and forth on their thoughts about the subject matter before Clara decided to change the subject. "Well I'm getting quite hungry, I'm going to head over to the Great Hall and have some butternut squash soup, do care to join me?" Clara said as she stood up, headed towards the door, and spun around to wait for Severus response.

Slightly shocked by the offer, Severus hesitated and said slowly "I…I suppose." He got up they walked side by side as they went into the Great Hall. The Great Hall was almost dead as most students and faculty went to Hogsmeade for the day. Severus finished his meal first and got up to go back to his office, but Clara stopped him.

"Before you leave, I wanted to give you a textbook I thought you might be interested in," said Clara as she got up. They walked together towards her office. Just then they saw Peeves make fun some students stuck behind for the Valentine's Day holiday. Peeves looked up to see Clara and disappeared at once. Severus raised an eye brow and looked over at Clara. Clara laughed and said vaguely "I think Peeves doesn't like me."

When they arrived inside her office, Severus stayed by the door as Clara walked to one of her many bookshelves to find the book she wanted to give him. When she found the book she walked back to him, a few inches apart from each other, handed the book over and she looked into his dark eyes and smiled.

"Severus, there is one more thing I would like to give you…Happy Valentine's Day" Clara said softly as she stepped closer to him, went up on her tip toes, and planted a kiss on his cheek. She stepped back to observe his response.

Severus seemed stunned by the gesture, glared at the women and then immediately turned around to leave her office. Clara placed her hands on her hips knowing that she was not too surprised by his response. That evening Severus did not show up for dinner. Minerva noticed this and asked Clara how there date went.

"Minerva, I don't think I could call it a date technically. I simply met with him to talk about the dark arts subject...I think it was the only way I could get him to agree to hang out with me in the first place. Afterwards I gave him a textbook I thought he might like and kissed his cheek. But as expected, he turned and left immediately. I am positive this is the reason he will not be attending dinner tonight." Clara said with a grave look on her face.

"Oh, that man. I'm sorry dear, but I'm glad you at least gave it a try. Who knows maybe this will make Severus a little nicer around people." Replied Minerva

Clara rolled her eyes and giggled, "yeah right!" Both witches continued to giggle at Clara's sarcasm.


	17. Chapter 17 - March Madness

_**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and all related characters are copyright of J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This story has no intention of making money and all credit goes to J. K. Rowling's hard work and ideals. I'm just a fan that wants to write about other Defense Against the Dark Arts Teachers who taught at Hogwarts._

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><p><strong>Chapter 17 - March Madness<strong>

The endless dance of Severus and Clara constantly avoiding each other continued. It was mid-March now and the snow had finally melted. Students were hurrying outside to enjoy the new change in weather. Clara decided to go outside for a change and enjoy the fresh air, she was in her casual attire today: blue jeans, tennis shoes, and a plain light blue long sleeve shirt. She could see Fang, the boarhound, running near Hagrid's hut and she decided to see how the puppy was doing. When she approached Fang, she could tell that he did not look like a puppy anymore. He had grown so much since the last time she saw him, Fang seemed to recognize her and tried to greet her by licking her fingers. Clara smiled and knelt down to scratch behind his ears, the dog was slightly taller than Clara when she was kneeling. Clara knew she found the right spot behind his ears as his foot began to thump against the ground and his tail began wagging. Just then Hagrid came out of his hut and walked over.

"Great dog he is," Hagrid said smiling down at the witch who was treating his dog so kindly.

"Morning Hagrid, nice weather were having, I see Fangs gotten big. He does seem to be a happy puppy though, aren't you Fang?" Clara said as Fang laid down on the ground to allow Clara to scratch his belly.

"He sure is, would yeh care for some tea?" Hagrid replied.

"I would love some tea Hagrid," said Clara she stopped petting Fang, stood up to follow Hagrid inside his hut. Fang grumbled at the sudden stop of Clara's petting and followed closely next to the witch, licking her fingers to get her attention again. When they were inside his small wooden cabin Clara sat by his kitchen table. Fang rested his head on Clara's lap since he was too big to sit in it. A copper kettle was already in the fireplace and Hagrid took his pink umbrella to start a fire. Clara scrunched her eyes for a moment thinking that it was quite odd to see an umbrella act as a wand.

"Hagrid, forgive my ignorance, but I can't help but feel like that umbrella is actually a wand. Why would your wand be umbrella?" Clara questioned.

"Not allowed ter do magic yeh see, yeh won' tell the Ministry will yeh?" Hagrid replied as he grabbed plateful of what looked like little fruitcakes and he joined Clara at the table.

"Of course not Hagrid," Clara said before she decided to change the subject. She could sense that Hagrid was getting uncomfortable talking about this. "Oh, I think I know what killed Fang's mother Hagrid."

"Do yeh now, what is it?" Hagrid looked happy at the news and the change in subject too.

"I believe it's was a lynx. Saw one a while ago and based on its size it seemed consistent with the bite wounds on the mother." Clara said as if it were a matter of fact. She grabbed one of the fruitcakes and took a bit. To her horror though, the fruitcake was as hard as a rock and she could feel that the cake almost broke her front tooth. Not wanting to be rude to Hagrid, she tried to use her back teeth to bit a chunk off the rock like cake. After small success she smiled at Hagrid as she tried to swallow the contents down her throat. Then secretly she placed the cake in her hands to vanish the cake using wordless and wandless magic.

"Yeh don' say. How is the rock cake, eat up there is plenty more," said Hagrid. Clara avoided telling Hagrid her hatred of the rock cake and decided to talk about what other creatures were in the woods. They continued talking about creatures well into mid-afternoon before Clara decided that she needed to get to work on grading some homework assignments. She gave Fang one last scratch behind the ear and then headed back towards the castle.

* * *

><p>It was a late Friday evening and Clara was in an engaging conversation with Minerva and Pomona in the staffroom. Clara couldn't help but giggle at some of things the older witches had to say. After a while Minerva and Pomona left the staffroom, but Clara decided to stay behind and to do some reading. She ended up drifting off to sleep before a hand came by to suddenly shake her awake. Clara's glasses fell off her face, so she moved her hands around to find them put them back on her face. When her eyes came back into focus she saw that Severus was sitting at a chair next to her.<p>

Clara's scrunched her eyebrows together and said sleepily. "Oh my, you wouldn't happen to know what time it is." Clara stretched her arms out and gave a yawn.

"Midnight." Severus had a big grin on his face before he continued. "Would you like to hear a theory I have Clara." His voice was silky smooth as usual.

Still half asleep Clara said "Sure…"

"Your mother did not die of natural causes, did she?" He paused to wait for her to respond.

Clara became wide awake now and tilted her head as she looked at Severus. Straightening her head again, she raised an eyebrow and spoke, "Go on."

"Your mother was a _murder_ wasn't she. Wonder why she killed so many people and could it possibly run in the family? If I'm not mistaken she was found guilty for her crimes and was sentenced to a dementor's kiss, wasn't she? Her death was planned long ago." Severus smirked at his new revelation about Albus's new assistant.

Surprisingly Clara smirked and responded "Very good Severus…but how did you find out?" She leaned forward in her chair looking into his dark eyes.

"I have my sources; I can't _wait_ to tell Albus about this." Severus seemed to be gloating in his new found revelation.

Clara had almost a sinister laugh before she spoke "Severus, I thought we discussed this before. Do you _really_ think Albus would hire me if he didn't know about this? He obviously trust me despite the crimes my mother has committed.

"You know what they say; the apple does not fall far from the tree Clara." He leaned forward and gave a malicious smile.

"Whatever you say Severus…I however was never convicted Death Eater. Or do you simply just ignore the fact that you yourself have done some _terrible_ things?" Clara had a malicious smile of her own. "And with that, I think I'm going to go to bed. Thank you for the wonderful conversation and goodnight." Clara swiftly walked out of the room. Severus glared at her as she left. Clara was not looking forward to tomorrow evening; her efforts to avoid Severus were futile as she and Severus were in charge of patrol the corridors together.

* * *

><p>The next evening Clara tried to avoid Severus as she roamed the corridors to find any students out of bed. To her horror though, she ended up bumping into Severus when she rounded the corner. Considering Severus's size relative to Clara, the force knocked her to the ground. Severus rolled his eyes but offered her his hand to pick her back up.<p>

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you." Clara paused a moment as she brushed the dirt of her robes, but decided she wanted to say more. "Severus, please don't think badly of me. No one has control over who their parents are. My life growing up wasn't much fun. I turned to the dark arts so I could protect myself against her and those she tried to harm. We are still friends, right?" Clara looked up at his beautiful eyes and she bit her lip while she waited for him to respond.

Severus had a strange sense of Deja-vu from Clara's last comment. He was trying to find something wrong with her, he didn't want to dishonor Lily and he thought that this would be a huge regret if he decided to show _affection_ for another women. But another part of him wanted to have her, to be able to talk to someone he could relate with, someone who loved the dark arts. He raised an eyebrow and his face had no expression when he retorted back. "I guess."

Clara could tell that he was still trying to find an excuse to not be with her. Why was he so keen on finding her human flaws? She decided it would be unwise to voice her opinion as their friendship seemed to always be on rocky terms. Clara smiled, nodded her head, and left to continue patrolling the corridors.


	18. Chapter 18 - Final Exams

_**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and all related characters are copyright of J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This story has no intention of making money and all credit goes to J. K. Rowling's hard work and ideals. I'm just a fan that wants to write about other Defense Against the Dark Arts Teachers who taught at Hogwarts._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 18 - Final Exams<strong>

It was dinnertime and Minerva began taunting Severus. "Can you believe Slytherin is currently in last place for the Inter-House Quidditch Cup." Minerva said with a large smile on her face.

"Well if you stopped giving my players detention on days they were playing, they would probably be winning Minerva." Severus said angrily and glared at Minerva.

As the two were bickering back and forth, Clara moved an inch to try and get a little closer towards Severus. She was probably a foot away from him, but to her it could have been 20 miles. She could feel this electricity flowing through her arm, despite the distance between them. All she wanted to do in that moment was to simply be closer to him as if he was a magnet attracting her towards him. She decided to take a deep breath and close off her mind to her emotions to prevent her from doing anything irrational in front of the students.

Severus on the other hand, also found himself trying to lean more towards Clara. He began to notice this behavior and decided to think of Lily again. The way she smelled, the way she laughed, the way she made him laugh, the way she smiled, the way she was so kind to him, and the way her green eyes looked at him. Yes, he needed to keep his emotions in line. He was doing _all_ of this for Lily. For the past several evenings, Severus was focused on researching the legendary battle that Clara was awarded for her services. He was desperately determined to find something wrong with Clara, a reason why she could never be like Lily. He spent many long hours reading newspapers with nothing so much as a hint of her being accused as a dark witch.

* * *

><p>It was the end of the school year and the last day of final exams. All of the students were dreading the amount of memorizing they had to do. Many of the 5th years were having mental break downs right before there OWL exams. Clara was slightly disappointed that her students were whining about the difficulty of the course work. Many of her students at WWIT made final exams competitive and loved the challenge to try and prove that they were the top student in class.<p>

Between exams, a student ran up to Clara with a small note in her hand. A 1st year Ravenclaw student, Penelope Clearwater, came with a terrified look on her face. Clara thought it was odd to see a student so scared to a deliver a letter, but upon reading her mind Clara realized that Severus made her deliver this letter. All made perfect sense now as most if not all students, who were not a Slytherin, disliked Severus Snape. She grabbed the letter from the students hand and said, "Thank you Miss Clearwater, and please don't worry. You are not in any sort of trouble. However, I can't help but feel that I may be in trouble with Professor Snape."

Penelope began to giggle at Clara's response. She nodded her head, turned around, and had a little more skip to her step as she left Clara's classroom. Clara opened the note and read.

_Clara,_

_Please come to my office tonight around five o'clock._

_S. Snape  
><em>

Clara's heart skipped a beat. Why does he want to meet her? Why now at the end of school year? Despite the questions she had, she couldn't help but hope that this meeting would be more than for academic purposes.

* * *

><p>As five o'clock approached, Clara walked down to the cold dungeon slightly nervous about what this meeting was about, her white robes flowing gracefully behind her. She imagined Severus pushing her against his door. His face would be only inches away from hers before kissing her and admitting that he wanted to be with her. Clara shook her head to escape her daydream and knocked on the door when it suddenly opened on its own accord. Severus eyes immediately fell onto Clara's hazel ones before he responded.<p>

"Clara," said Severus as he nodded and continued to speak, "enter." He stepped aside to allow her entry. Clara quickly walked inside and Severus immediately closed the door behind him. Severus walked over to his desk, grabbed the book that Clara gave him earlier and went back by Clara to return it.

"I figured since you are heading back home soon that you like this back." Severus looked indifferent as Clara pushed the book back towards him.

"You keep it Severus, I don't need it anymore. I practically memorized all the contents in that book." Clara said trying to look emotionless herself.

Severus raised an eyebrow and said, "I see." He moved over to his desk, grabbed the unopened bottle of wine Clara gave him for Christmas. "Would you care to have a drink? As your friend, I would be interested to hear what you have planned for the summer holiday," Severus was already pouring out some wine for himself as he asked.

"I suppose," Clara said hesitantly, she couldn't help but feel that this was uncharacteristic of Severus to do. She sat down at the chair behind his desk gazing at his fireplace her thoughts still distracted by the daydream she had earlier.

Severus handed her a glass of wine and Clara looked up into his eyes again. "Thanks." She smiled at him and took a sip of her wine. Just then her eyes widen and she immediately dropped the wineglass. The glass shattered instantly when it contacted the ground. Her hands gripped the handles of the chair and then glared at Severus. "Veritaserum" Clara said to Severus spitefully.

Severus had a wicked smile on his face, leaned forward, and placed his hands near the end of the handles on Clara's chair. His face was only inches away from Clara's as he spoke. "I knew if I had the _right _distraction I could get you to drink it. Not such a clever witch after all, are we! Now then, what is your name?"

"Dr. Clara Cummins." Clara said forcefully.

"And were you the witch that fought against Tituba's Troops of Transcendence in Salem?" Severus said in a smooth yet dangerous tone.

"Technically, yes." Clara said with sheer anger in her eyes.

"Explain yourself!" Severus said still grinning that he would finally get the answer he was looking for.

"Ha, please…those necromancers. Even if you combined those idiots together they couldn't even control Inferi. I'm afraid there power was not even a tenth of that Tom Riddle person you served. Let's just say I did everyone a service by obliterated all of their minds." Clara said simply.

"And _why_ did you obliterate their minds." Severus's eyebrows rose as he spoke.

"Isn't it obvious Severus! The answer is simple…you're a clever man yourself…think about it!" Clara said with a malicious smile on her face.

"I'm asking you! Tell me why witch!" Severus said looking irritated.

Then Clara began to laugh as she spoke. "Severus, do I look like someone that is not skilled enough to protect my own mind from a truth telling serum." Clara sighed and continued.

Severus looked furious when Clara said the potion had no effect on her. He knew it was very rare to find someone who was incapable of influence from a potion like this.

"But I'll tell you anyways…since your so hell bent on trying to find something wrong with me. You should be honored, you'll be the only person who knows, expect maybe Albus, but I'm not sure how exactly he found that out…Resurrection Severus! As soon as I realized that the necromancers were gaining power, I thought…well I thought they had the answer. It was obvious however that they didn't know anything and I guess I got a little upset and erased all their memories. Not that they really needed it anyways."

Severus glared but was still curious, "Why are you seeking resurrection?"

"Well you were quite right about my mother being a murder. The woman killed my father when I was about three. My father was a much kinder person than my mother and really was the one who took care of me. You see, she found out that my father helped give some homeless muggles food. Quite tragic for a little girl as I witnessed my own mother kill my father right in front of me. You know what she said to me? She said if she ever found out I helped muggles, she would kill me too." Clara said, she sighed and continued her story. "Well the cops eventually found out about my father's death and arrested her. I ended up living with my Aunt and Uncle from my dad's side of the family."

"Naturally my goal since then was to learn how to resurrect the dead, particularly my father I suppose. But it does not exactly mean that I _use_ dark magic against other people. I only seek…for my own personal gain. Ha, rather similar to Albus if I must say so. Albus is not such a saint himself. Why don't you ask Aberforth Dumbledore, he is after all the barman at the Hogs Head Inn. Ask yourself, can you trust Albus, Severus?" Clara stood up and walked over to Severus's fireplace as she continued. Her hands were behind her back as she spoke, "You know, it's very curious that you changed teams yourself as soon as the Potter's died. Now why would that be?"

Severus glared at her and appeared to be frozen standing near his desk. His black eyes like coal as he gazed into her eyes.

"You _loved_ her, didn't you? You loved Harry's mother, let me see if I remember her name…that's right…Lily. It all makes perfect sense now. This is why you are determined to find something wrong with me. That is why you won't let me in, your still in love with her. You should move on and I want to be with you Severus. Please give me a chance. I'm going to guess there was a reason she married James Potter and not you."

Severus loss his temper and shouted "GET…OUT…NOW!"

The way Severus sounded made Clara unwilling to try anything else. "Fine!" Clara cried out, stormed out the room, and slammed his office door to the point where the wood began to crack in the middle.

Severus now had tears in his eyes as someone had figured out his deepest secret. How dare she do this to him, to Lily! He ran his hand through his greasy hair and sat at his desk chair. Tears falling from his hooked nose as he reflected on the recent conversation.


	19. Chapter 19 - His True Loyalty

_**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter and all related characters are copyright of J. K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This story has no intention of making money and all credit goes to J. K. Rowling's hard work and ideals. I'm just a fan that wants to write about other Defense Against the Dark Arts Teachers who taught at Hogwarts._

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><p><strong>Chapter 19 - His True Loyalty<br>**

Clara stormed up to the headmaster's office; she finally realized why she was here at Hogwarts. She flung his office door wide open, not even attempting to be polite by knocking first. Albus was seated at his desk in maroon robes looking like he was waiting for her to arrive.

"You played me Albus! I'm not some sort of toy you can use to see if your pets are loyal to you. You didn't really want me here to teach, you needed me for my research skills and to see if Severus was still in love with Lily…didn't you…DIDN'T YOU!" Clara boomed, her fist rose into the air and then slammed on top of his desk.

Albus tilted his head forward and simply said "Ah, you figured it out, I suspected it would be only a matter of time before you pieced the puzzle together. Yes, yes I suppose in a way I did use you."

"Albus, how could you…how could you use me like this." Clara said as tears finally began to form in her eyes. "I loved him…" She fell onto the chair and placed her hands in face, no longer in control of her emotions.

"My dear, this wasn't meant to personally punish you. In some aspects I was hoping Severus would move on himself. I didn't really want you to find out my true motivation for summoning you, but I needed to know for sure if Severus would protect Harry Potter when Tom returned to power." Albus stood up and raised his wand which was now pointed at Clara's head.

Clara lifted her hands away from her face and was horrified to see that Albus had his wand raise…wait a minute, that wasn't any wand. Clara never saw Albus's wand close up before, but she could tell that that was the Elder Wand. Clara desperately tried to pull out her own wand out to protect herself but it was too late all she could see was a bright white flash of light. Clara collapsed onto the ground unconscious.

"I'm sorry my dear, but this is also for your own protection. I'm afraid you know too much and I promised Severus no one could know where his true loyalties lie." Albus waved his wand over Clara's body and began to modify her memories. He made sure she would never remember who Severus Snape was or the existence of Tom Riddle. He waited for her to regain consciousness and then Clara spoke. She scrunched her eyes and rubbed her head, confused why she was in the headmaster's office.

"Albus, what am I doing in here." Clara said still quite confused. Albus gave a hand to lifted her off from the floor

"My dear, it is the end of the term. You were actually on your way to my office to say goodbye, when Peeves hit you in the back of the head with a piece of armor. Poppy helped me bring you here until you regained consciousness. Please let me assist you out of the Castle. We were so glad you could help us teach this year."

"Oh yeah…silly me, clearly these exams have taken the energy out of me" replied Clara still rubbing the back of her head. "Let me just pack up and I'll meet you down by the Great Hall."

"I'll help you pack, it's the least I can do for your excellent work here this year. It will be sad to see you go. It seemed that most students learned a lot from you." Albus said smiling at her while as his piercing blue eyes gazed into her hazel ones searching to ensure she had no recollection of Severus Snape.

"Thanks Albus," responded Clara and smiled back at him. Together they walked to Clara's office in which with their joint effort only took about a minute to have everything packed. Clara grabbed her suitcases and together they walked out onto the grounds. "I will miss this place," Clara finally said.

"I'm sure you will...good luck in your future endeavors Clara." Albus waved at the witch as she passed the gates, turned around and smiled before she apparated back to the United States.

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><p>Moments later Albus headed back towards the Great Hall to give his speech at the End-of-Term Feast. As he sat at his chair, Severus was wondering where Clara went off too. He had to tell Albus after the feast that she knows about his secret, she couldn't let this witch say anything this to anyone else.<p>

"Now, now…the House Cup needs awarding. In fourth place, with three hundred and twenty-six points…Ravenclaw. In third place, with three hundred and twenty-eight points….Gryffindor." At that moment Severus gabbed his elbow into Minerva's side and had a malicious grin on his face. "In second place, with four hundred and two points…Hufflepuff…and in first place, with five hundred and thirty-three points….Slytherin. Congratulations Slytherin! Now that your heads a completely full of knowledge I ask that you all eat up and enjoy your summer holiday." Albus sat down and the food appeared.

Severus was still slightly panicked that Clara had not shown up. When the feast ended Severus headed over to Albus. "Albus, may I have a word with you?"

"Oh course Severus; let's head to my office shall we." Albus said as the two stood side by side. Severus's black robes' billowing behind him as they walked to the old man's office.

"I needed to speak to you about your appointment of Professor Cummins. She…she knows about Lily Albus." Albus raised his hand to stop Severus from speaking.

"I'm already aware of the situation and as a man of my word, her memory has been properly modified." Albus said as his eye's found Severus's.

"Albus, what do you mean, by her memory has been modified?" Severus looked at him slightly unsure what the old man meant.

"I mean, that Clara will have no recollection of you or the dark lords' existence. She has already returned to the United States. You have nothing to worry about Severus." Albus smiled at him as he sat in his desk chair.

"What! But why on earth would you do such a thing Albus, you didn't need to completely easer her mind of my existence," Severus replied looking slightly outrage by what Albus just told him.

"I'm afraid I did Severus, she is an extremely clever witch. She would have found another way to determine that you loved Lily Potter. In this way, I keep my word that no one knows where your true loyalties lie Severus. That is, after all, what you wanted?" Albus said tilting his head down waiting for what Severus had to say.

"I suppose your right Albus…" replied Severus as he got up to leave his office. Severus knew he still loved Lily, but couldn't help feeling sad that he lost a friend that enjoyed the subject he found near and dear to his heart. Albus beamed as he watched Severus leave. Albus was satisfied and now he was convinced that he could completely trust Severus Snape.

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><p><em><strong>Author's note:<strong> Hope you enjoyed this story and thank you so much for taking the time to read it!_


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